Cultivating mental health resilience

The Land-grant University System is tackling mental health challenges through innovative programs. Extension professionals are uniquely positioned to educate and support urban, suburban and rural communities, offering programs that teach coping skills, recognize mental health signs, and normalize conversations about mental health. Addressing mental health is crucial because it enhances overall well-being, improves quality of life and fosters healthier, more resilient communities.

• Researchers in Pennsylvania found that rural adults in the United States have higher allostatic load levels, indicating greater cumulative stress, compared to urban adults. This disparity is evident across most age groups and persists even after accounting for socioeconomic factors, underscoring significant health inequalities between rural and urban populations. These findings will help target support programs to areas that need them most.
  Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station; Hatch Multistate, Non-profit grants and contracts. See full statement.

   

• Five years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental well-being concerns remain high, with anxiety and depression leading to social isolation. Extension programs like Mind Matters and A-RESCUE in Delaware help build resilience and improve social interactions. Among participants, 74%report increased confidence in discussing mental health and 86% feel more confident in providing support.
  University of Delaware Cooperative Extension; Smith-Lever (3b&c), State appropriations. See full statement.

   

• To address this crisis, Oregon became the first state to operate an AgriStress Helpline in September 2023 with the help of Extension professionals. As of September 2024, the AgriStress Helpline has provided support and referrals, including crisis interventions, for callers from 21 counties. Another Extension program, the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, has trained more than 450 farmers, ranchers and their friends and family members how to recognize signs of a mental health emergency and how to intervene to interrupt the process that leads to suicide.
  Oregon State University Extension Service; USDA Competitive, State Appropriations. See full statement.

   

• Extension professionals in Illinois have made significant strides in addressing mental health challenges by delivering 110 program sessions that reached nearly 1,500 adults. These programs significantly improved participants’ knowledge, with 89% reporting high knowledge of mental health topics after completion, compared to 27% before. Additionally, 92% of participants intend to share the information they acquired, and 94% plan to apply the knowledge in their work or personal lives.
  University of Illinois; Smith-Lever (3b&c). See full statement.
  

Here are a few examples of that work:

• Researchers in Pennsylvania found that rural adults in the United States have higher allostatic load levels, indicating greater cumulative stress, compared to urban adults. This disparity is evident across most age groups and persists even after accounting for socioeconomic factors, underscoring significant health inequalities between rural and urban populations. These findings will help target support programs to areas that need them most.
  Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station; Hatch Multistate, Non-profit grants and contracts. See full statement.

   

• Five years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental well-being concerns remain high, with anxiety and depression leading to social isolation. Extension programs like Mind Matters and A-RESCUE in Delaware help build resilience and improve social interactions. Among participants, 74%report increased confidence in discussing mental health and 86% feel more confident in providing support.
  University of Delaware Cooperative Extension; Smith-Lever (3b&c), State appropriations. See full statement.

   

• To address this crisis, Oregon became the first state to operate an AgriStress Helpline in September 2023 with the help of Extension professionals. As of September 2024, the AgriStress Helpline has provided support and referrals, including crisis interventions, for callers from 21 counties. Another Extension program, the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, has trained more than 450 farmers, ranchers and their friends and family members how to recognize signs of a mental health emergency and how to intervene to interrupt the process that leads to suicide.
  Oregon State University Extension Service; USDA Competitive, State Appropriations. See full statement.

   

• Extension professionals in Illinois have made significant strides in addressing mental health challenges by delivering 110 program sessions that reached nearly 1,500 adults. These programs significantly improved participants’ knowledge, with 89% reporting high knowledge of mental health topics after completion, compared to 27% before. Additionally, 92% of participants intend to share the information they acquired, and 94% plan to apply the knowledge in their work or personal lives.
  University of Illinois; Smith-Lever (3b&c). See full statement.