Free online course aims to help farmers and and their neighbors recognize signs of stress and suicide risk - Entrepreneur Generations

A free online course aims to help rural farmers and those in farming communities learn how to recognize the signs of stress and suicide risk, communicate effectively with stressed farmers, and help reduce the stigma attached to mental health issues.

Rural Resilience: Farm Stress Training is self-paced and takes less than three hours to complete. It consists of voice-over slide presentations and downloadable resources, and will be available through June 2021.

The course was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative Extension System, Farm Credit, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Farmers Union. Course content was created by Extension experts at Michigan State University, the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin, Montana State University, and South Dakota State University, according to the course website.

The course is timely, as suicide and mental illness are higher for farmers, especially during the pandemic.

Here are some other farmer suicide prevention and mental-health resources:

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 (24 hours)
• Crisis Text Line: 741-741 (24 hours)
• Farm Aid farmer hotline: 1-800-327-6243 (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Eastern)
• National Farmers Union Farm Crisis Center
• Suicide warning signs: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2D2mNJ6 Free online course aims to help farmers and and their neighbors recognize signs of stress and suicide risk - Entrepreneur Generations

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