Agricultural Community QPR
The Agricultural Community QPR for Farmers and Farm Families program was launched in Summer 2020 with funding from the Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention (SCAHIP), the Central Appalachian Regional Education and Research Center (CARERC) and Agrisafe, as part of the South-Farm & Ranch Stress Assistance Network program from USDA. The goal of the Agricultural Community QPR for Farmers and Farm Families program is to increase agricultural community members knowledge of suicide, ability to identify people in distress, as well as confidence and comfort to intervene and provide referrals. The training continues to be funded by the General Fund appropriation in fiscal years 2020-2021 to support the Kentucky Rural Mental Health and Suicide Prevention pilot program thanks in great part to the legislative efforts of Kentucky state Representative Brandon Reed (see link to KY legislative support).
QPR (Question-Persuade-Refer) training has been cited by several research studies to improve knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy to intervene across populations (Aldrich, Wilde and Miller, 2018; Burnette et al., 2015; Cerel et al., 2012; Isaac et al., 2009). Agricultural Community QPR for Farmers and Farm Families pairs the QPR training developed by Dr. Paul Quinnett [https://qprinstitute.com/] with an introduction to agricultural community stressors as well as discussion of barriers and cues to prompt mental healthcare-seeking behavior among farmers and farm families in rural communities. Training material was developed by the QPR Core Research Team: Dr. Joan Mazur, Carolyn Oldham, Dr. Kristie Guffey (Asst. Professor, Murray State University), Dr. Cheryl Witt (Asst. Professor, University of Louisville), Dr. Susan Jones (Retired Faculty, Western Kentucky University), Dr. Kim Link (Asst. Professor, Western Kentucky University), and Catherine Malin (Director, South Central Kentucky AHEC).
Agricultural Community QPR Trainers
Over 1000 individuals were trained by 57 Agricultural Community QPR gatekeeper Trainers, as of April 2022. These 57 trainers were funded by the Southeast Center, an S-FRSAN subaward from Agrisafe and the Kentucky Legislature. Agrisafe has also used Agricultural Community QPR to train over 700 individuals (as of June 2022) across the country. Watch the video below to hear the impact being a QPR trainer has had on our agricultural community gatekeepers.
The map below represents where our trainers are located. Research from our first cohort of participants indicated that the training had a significant effect (a growth of .21 logits) on participant willingness to intervene with an individual with thoughts of suicide. Please contact Dr. Carolyn Oldham at carolynoldham@uky.eduif you are interested in hosting an Agricultural Community QPR in your community.
Agricultural Community QPR in the News
https://www.lex18.com/news/
https://www.wtvq.com/