Dr. Lee Anne Walmsley assists with Farmer's Dinner Theatre promoting Mental Health
Assistant Professor Lee Anne Walmsley, Ph.D., Eds, MSN, RN, a BH WELL team member and chair of the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Nursing’s Bringing Action Right Now to Mental Health and Wellness (BARN) council, supported the production of a dinner theatre promoting mental health needs of farmers. The pilot Farmer’s Dinner Theatre was a collaboration between BARN and the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Students from the Warren and Logan County school districts performed in the production hosted at the Logan County Extension office. The message of the evening: It’s okay to not be okay.
Dr. Walmsley facilitated a Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) training for the participating students in the development stages of the production. This training provides the students with the tools to support individuals who are suicidal in seeking professional mental healthcare services.
The Farmer’s Dinner Theatre is one series in UK’s larger effort to address rural mental health concerns. Various grants aimed at this goal will be used to conduct research on farm stress and mental health, as well as fund educational resources pertaining to farmers, farm families, and health care professionals who may treat rural populations. The next Farmer’s Dinner Theatre will be held in Daviess and Henderson counties on September 22, 2021.