The Creation of Mental Health Challenge Coins to Acknowledge Mental Health Concerns Among Today’s Agricultural Youth: An Innovative Idea
Summary
Kentucky created an agriculture mental health challenge coin to acknowledge the mental health concerns among agricultural youth. The front of the coin is stamped with the information about the organization while the back contains the state’s suicide hotline. The purpose of the coin is to create opportunities for individuals to express to the recipient how appreciated they are and that their life is valued. Each passing of the coin is presented with a handshake. The handshake is paired with a speech to stress to the recipient their life is valued, and they are appreciated. Transfer of the agriculture mental health challenge coin must be completed with a handshake and a face-to-face private conversation. To date, approximately 3,475 challenge coins are in rotation around the state. In addition, five Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapters and five non-profit organizations have created their own coin, with three more in production. The goal is to expand the agriculture mental health challenge coin program into more high schools across Kentucky. Six more FFA Chapters have agreed to receive training and students have begun to develop their own chapter coin.