The founder of a group called Rural Minds says that the death of his 28-year-old nephew was a wake-up call to America’s rural mental health crisis.
Since then Jeff Winton has served as an advocate bringing mental health resources to the communities that need them.
According to Winton, “There’s not much happening as it relates to the 46 million people that live in rural America regarding mental health and suicide prevention. I think we’re making some progress, but when I started calling around to various other nonprofit organizations to see what they were doing in rural areas, there was silence on the other end of the phone and an admission that they were more focused on urban and suburban people because, quite frankly, they didn’t know anything about rural Americans.”
Rural Minds has now partnered with Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine to develop a program focused on the role veterinarians can play in addressing the crisis.
“We’re very proud of this program and that is— that helps train veterinary students and veterinarians to be the ears and the eyes of the community because they are out and about on farms and ranches,” he explains. “They are meeting
with farmers and ranchers on a daily basis and they are the ones that in many cases farmers trust.”
The one-hour course is available for free online and tailored to students and practicing vets.
It explores mental health issues unique to rural communities, equipping doctors with the knowledge needed to recognize these critical issues.
