Farmers and farmworkers consistently report high levels of stress associated with commodity production and rural living. The culmination of rural living, farm work, and stress is associated with elevated rates of suicide in farming occupations. The BARN: Farm Dinner Theater was developed as a strategy to address and explore the difficult topics of mental health and suicide within a rural community.

UK Cooperative Extension agents from Northern Kentucky Counties recruited youth and adult participants to experience the BARN Workshop and produce the Farm Dinner for their community. Approximately 28 participants attended the BARN workshop and collaborated with county agents and specialists to increase awareness and gain tools regarding mental well-being and suicide in their community. Participants learned to recognize and understand how to handle stress through activity- and discussion-based instruction. Additionally, each participant was able to identify mental health stigmas and discover personal skills. All 28 participants were trained in QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer), an evidence-based suicide prevention program. Lastly, Workshop participants collaborated to create Farm Dinner Theater scripts to develop community awareness.

Workshop participants demonstrated statistically significant increases in knowledge for mental health and well-being; recognition of stress, anxiety, and depression; understanding the steps of QPR for suicide prevention; knowledge of self-care activities; understanding the importance of working with others; use of storytelling to improve mental health and well-being for suicide prevention; and understanding the links between improved mental well-being and suicide prevention. All the workshop participants “strongly agreed” that the workshop information was practical and that learned lessons were implementable in their daily lives.

The highlight of the workshop culminated in the participants delivering the BARN Farm Dinner Theater. The participants worked with UK Extension staff and community members to develop all aspects of the Farm Dinner Theater, which 157 community members from Northern Kentucky Area counties attended. Of the 157 BARN dinner theater participants, 123 participants showed statistically significant increases in knowledge and understanding regarding self-care; mental well-being, the effects of stress; suicide as an important topic in their community; the need to talk about stress with family or friends; and reaching out to someone if feeling hopeless or having suicidal thoughts. Similarly, theater participants demonstrated statistically significant increases in behavioral intention regarding use of self-care to improve mental well-being; seeking resources to prevent suicide; talking and asking family and friends about their stress; telling someone if they’re having suicidal thoughts; and using examples from the dinner theater to handle their stress.

Many key take home messages participants reported included the importance of talking about stress, taking care of themselves, and seeking help from family and friends. Additionally, participants indicated that the dinner theater was a great program and expressed a desire to receive more information.