Relevance: More than 1 in 5 adults in the United States live with a mental illness; in Kentucky, 43% of adults report signs or symptoms of anxiety or depression across their lifespan.   At the same time, suicide is a leading cause of preventable death in Kentucky for individuals aged 10-34 and those over the age of 59.  Concern over the state of mental health and access to care was echoed in the Cooperative Extension Community Needs Assessment, where respondents listed “improved access to mental health and wellbeing resources” as one of the top 6 priority issues.   Kentuckians are aware of the need for knowledge and skills to recognize and respond to mental health challenges, whether their own or those of others, and the ability to advocate for increased mental health resources throughout the state.  

Response: Increased desire from UK Healthcare to extend their reach of relevant mental health resources, and the ability of UK Cooperative Extension to connect Kentuckians in all 120 counties through field staff located in each county office, has led to increased partnership among UK Healthcare’s Healthy Kentucky Initiative and Extension Senior Specialist for Family Health around mental health education.   UK Healthcare launched the asynchronous online QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) suicide crisis intervention program, which provides high-quality interactive training to participants to teach how to identify a person facing a mental health crisis and intervene by connecting the person to available mental health resources.  

Results: Extension Agents have increased the reach of this new tool by promoting it in their respective counties to community members through newsletters, social media, radio, TV, and their presence at local events, enabling this valuable educational tool to reach audiences across Kentucky counties.  To date, 2,775 individuals have completed the online QPR training.  Since Extension’s involvement in advertising the online QPR tool, the program's reach has increased in 61 counties across the state.   Additionally, UK Healthcare’s Healthy Kentucky Initiative provided funding and resources for UK CES Staff to conduct five CODE RED Universal Safety Planning instructor trainings across the state, to over 90 CES Extension Agents, enabling them to disseminate CODE RED to audiences across the state, increasing individual’s capacity to recognize and respond to their own mental health challenge with appropriate coping strategies and resources.

Public Value Statement: The partnership between the UK Cooperative Extension and UK Healthcare’s Healthy Kentucky Initiative enhances Kentuckians' access to essential mental health resources.