Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9864-9673

Date Available

7-31-2024

Year of Publication

2024

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Community & Leadership Development

College

Agriculture, Food and Environment

Department/School/Program

Community and Leadership Development

Advisor

Dr. Stacy Vincent

Abstract

Suicide is currently the 11th leading cause of death in the Unites States (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2024), and is especially high among the farming and agricultural population (Kennedy et al., 2021; Klingelschmidt et al., 2022; Monteith et al., 2020). Additionally, mental health access and outcomes are worse among this population, partially due to the inaccessibility of care in rural areas (Taylor, 2019). Communication among caring individuals is thought to be an effective suicide prevention strategy (Long, 2023; Ross & Bassilos, 2019). The Caring Cards program was developed as a way to facilitate mental health communications among a self-defined group of Master Gardeners in a rural county of Kentucky. The purpose was to determine if involvement in the Caring Cards program had an effect on participant mental health beliefs and attitudes, depression, and belongingness, as well as to explore the network of mental health communications within the group. The program involved the sending and receiving of handwritten cards among participants (n = 9) over the course of three months. A quasi-experimental, one-group pretest-posttest within-participants design was chosen for this exploratory case study. The pretest and posttest observations collected data on depression, sense of belonging, mental illness beliefs, mental help-seeking attitudes, and perception of social network. Following the receipt of a Caring Card, participants also completed a recipient survey which collected data on perceived impact on mental well-being and sense of connection to the sender. A total of 65 cards were sent among 9 individuals. A decrease in mean scores of depression and general belongingness were found, as well as an increase in mental illness belief scores and mental health attitudes. The number of acquaintances and friends reported by participants increased. Participants perceived the cards as having a positive impact on mental well-being and connection to others.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2024.291

Funding Information

This study was supported by the Central Appalachian Regional Education and Research Center (Grant # T42OH010278) and Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention (Grant # U54OH007547) from 2022-2024.

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