The challenges people who live in rural communities are vastly different than those who live in urban areas. What is gained in wide, open spaces is traded for convenience. Trips to the grocery store take more planning and walking or taking public transportation is often not an option. More significant, access to medical services — … Read more
There is nothing more terrifying than seeing a wall of flames stretching from horizon to horizon, headed toward your home with voracious disregard for generations of toil, sweat, prayers and determination to make a life out of dirt, grass and too little rain. Over the past decade of drought, northwestern Oklahoma farmers and ranchers have … Read more
Peer pressure in schools. Stress in the workplace. Negative memories you can’t let go of. Everyone faces personal challenges and their own journey to recovery. One of the things that makes Mental Health First Aid unique is tailored courses that meet the needs of specific populations. Whether you are a young adult in school, public … Read more
Jill Ramsey, a Mental Health First Aid Instructor, traveled more than 700 miles to teach a course in St. Paul, a remote native town in the Pribilof Islands off the coast of Alaska. Her students included the one health care provider, the lone teacher, the two law enforcement officers, the Russian Orthodox priest and even … Read more
Before he turned his farmhouse into an inn open only on holidays, Jim Hardy (played by Bing Crosby in the 1942 classic film Holiday Inn) imagined a bucolic country life. But the reality of farming landed Jim in a “sanitarium.” Played for laughs in the movie, the stress of farming is all too real (“In … Read more
