Developing and Implementing a Pilot Agricultural Community Suicide Prevention Program for Farmers and Farm Families

Summary: This presentation describes a pilot community-based suicide prevention program. Eighteen trainers from various farmer-connected groups such as commodity groups, equipment dealers, farm safety trainers, teachers, ministers, and rural health nurses obtained credentials as QPR (Question-Persuade-Refer) trainers. Over 450 persons were trained from these constituent groups in an 8-month period of time using training materials customized for the farming community. Using a Community of Practice framework challenges and successes in establishing mutual engagement, joint enterprise, a shared repertoire, and meaning in practice. Program revisions and the next steps forward are discussed.

Intended Audience: Agricultural Safety & Health Professionals, Rural Community healthcare workers, social service professionals, Agricultural Extension

Objectives: At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to….

Identify unique emotional stressors for farmers and farm families
Understand the basic tenets and approach of the QPR Suicide Prevention Program and adaptions that are appropriate for implementation with farmers and farm families
Understand useful strategies for identifying community partners to build coalitions to support farmer and farm families to access and utilize support services.
Identify elements of the Community of Practice framework for application to the development of community-based farmer mental health support networks.

Joan M. Mazur, PhD

Professor, Southeast Center for Agriculture Health and Injury Prevention, University of Kentucky

Joan M. Mazur, Ph.D. is Professor of Instructional Systems Design in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction where she also serves as a Director of the Digital Learning & Design P-20 Innovation Lab. Her research is primarily interdisciplinary and has focused on narrative forms of instruction, mediating technologies and inquiry, and recently on teacher professional development and coaching for innovative classroom learning technology as part of the P-20 Innovation Initiative. She teaches graduate classes in digital gaming, social media design, technology integration in the secondary schools and mixed methods research. She has collaborated with the Colleges of Engineering, Agriculture, Public Health, and Arts and Sciences and numerous public school districts on various projects, funded by NSF, NIOSH, DoDEA and various private foundations including BellSouth and James Graham Brown.

Joan began at UK in 1993 after receiving her doctoral degree from Cornell University in Curriculum & Instruction. Mazur lives with her husband on their farm in Willisburg in Washington County.