Rural Response to Farmer Mental Health and Suicide Prevention – Models and Innovations

These stories feature model programs and successful rural projects that can serve as a source of ideas and provide lessons others have learned. Some of the projects or programs may no longer be active. Read about the criteria and evidence-base for programs included.

Other Project Examples

The Coffee Break Project
Added July 2022

• Need: Men in the agriculture industry face high suicide rates due to factors including long hours, geographic isolation, lack of social opportunities, and stigma surrounding mental health care.
• Intervention: The Coffee Break Project, a program led by the Southeast Health Group in southeastern Colorado, encourages mental health check-ins for farmers and ranchers through a public awareness campaign and casual coffee gatherings that utilize COMET, an intervention model developed specifically for rural communities.
• Results: Between eight and 20 people typically attend each coffee gathering.

Minnesota Farm & Rural Helpline
Updated/reviewed July 2021

• Need: To connect farmers in stress with needed resources.
• Intervention: The Minnesota Farm & Rural Helpline and website connect callers with counselors, help with daily living (like childcare or food assistance), and financial/legal advice.
• Results: In 2020, the helpline received 104 calls, and the website had more than 7,000 visits.

Sowing the Seeds of Hope
Updated/reviewed November 2020

• Need: Agriculture workers and their families have high rates of psychological distress and suicide, but limited access to mental health services.
• Intervention: The "Sowing the Seeds of Hope" (SSoH) program was created to provide affordable and culturally appropriate mental health services to individuals working in agriculture and their families in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
• Results: The regional program ran from 1999-2014 and successfully established a variety of interventions to help individuals in rural communities access behavioral health services.