Rural Minds: Nonprofit to host “Managing Rural Mental Illness” webinar

MAYVILLE, NY (October 17, 2023) – Rural Minds is proud to offer a webinar, sponsored by Janssen Neuroscience, which will present one woman’s lived experience managing her adult son’s mental illness and overcoming barriers to mental healthcare in rural Wisconsin, and a community psychiatrist sharing her expertise treating patients in rural America.

Chrisa Hickey’s son, Tim, was diagnosed at age 11 with childhood-onset schizophrenia. In the years since, Chrisa has learned much about how to handle the many challenges accompanying the management of a family member’s mental health care in a rural area. As an active advocate for families raising children with serious mental illnesses, like schizophrenia, she shares her hard-won knowledge and experience.

During this free, one-hour webinar, Chrisa will detail the struggles she’s endured caring for her son, as well as the benefits of living in a small, tight-knit rural community. “There’s only three people with schizophrenia that I know of in northern Door County and my son is one of them,” she says, “and he’s probably the most open about it. Tim’s always been open about his illness, and I think it’s helped a lot of people change their perception of what severe mental illness looks like.”

Addressing mental health care of schizophrenia from the clinical side will be Dr. Monica Taylor-Desir, a community psychiatrist who worked with tribal communities in North Dakota for 16 years prior to joining the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Taylor-Desir will provide her expertise in the treatment and management of mental illnesses in rural settings.

This conversation will address rural lifestyle barriers/challenges to accessing mental health that include:

  • Difficulty getting an appointment with limited availability of mental health professionals:
    • 20% fewer primary care providers than in cities 
    • A lack of psychiatrists in 65% of rural counties
    • A lack of psychiatric nurse practitioners in 81% of rural counties 
    • 47% of rural counties lack a psychologist.
  • Unreliable, expensive, or nonexistent internet service for online video or telehealth appointments; 22% to 28% of homes in rural America lack access to broadband internet.
  • Time and transportation required for long-distance travel to meet with a mental health professional.
  • Potential lack of confidentiality in a small, close-knit community.
  • Feeling of isolation due to lack of access to someone to talk with outside of the community who understands mental health challenges in rural America.

Additional information about the webinar can be found on Rural Minds website: https://www.ruralminds.org/rural-mental-health-connections-webinar

Free registration can be completed via the this form: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_n-yB1fMWSZ2wmSbDq_mYBg#/registration 

For more information about Rural Minds, please visit our website at www.RuralMinds.org and follow us on Facebook, TwitterLinkedIn and Instagram

ABOUT RURAL MINDS

Rural Minds is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with a mission to serve as the informed voice for mental health in rural America, and to provide mental health information and resources. Our vision is a rural America where there’s no more suffering, silence, or stigma around mental illness.

Rural Minds serves the mental health needs of rural Americans by:

  • Listening to and providing forums for courageous people to share their experiences with mental illness;
  • Connecting rural Americans across the country with existing mental health resources, including crisis and suicide hotlines, via www.RuralMinds.org
  • Identifying gaps in mental health information and services;
  • Partnering with community leaders and organizations on mental health initiatives;
  • Collaborating with individuals and organizations to improve rural mental health including rural residents, donors and volunteers, large and small nonprofits, and socially responsible corporations with a strong interest in the health of rural Americans; and,
  • Developing new educational resources and support services to address the unmet needs for mental health in rural communities throughout the United States. 

ABOUT JANSSEN NEUROSCIENCE

Patients inform and inspire their science-based innovations, which continue to change and save lives. Applying rigorous science and compassion, Janssen confidently addresses some of the most complex diseases of our time and unlocks the potential medicines of tomorrow.

Their diverse portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas — Oncology, Immunology, Neuroscience, Cardiovascular, Pulmonary Hypertension, and Retina.

They are continuously working to develop treatments, aspiring to find cures, pioneering the path from lab to life, and championing patients every step of the way.

ABOUT FOUNDER JEFF WINTON

Jeff Winton has many decades of experience in the agricultural and human healthcare industries. In addition to being the founder and owner of Wall Street Dairy LLC, a working family dairy farm in Chautauqua County, New York, Jeff is chief executive officer and co-founder of Jeff Winton Associates, a full-service public relations and corporate affairs firm. He has deep experience – on both a professional and extremely personal level – with efforts to educate about depression, bipolar disorder, schizophreniasubstance use disorder and other forms of mental illness that has led him to create Rural Minds. 

Growing up on his family’s multi-generational dairy farm in upstate New York, Winton was aware of local residents struggling with mental illness in silence. It did not hit home, however, until his 28-year-old nephew, Brooks, died by suicide. This tragic loss opened his eyes to the prevalence of mental illness in rural communities, and provided the call-to-action that led to Winton founding Rural Minds. His late mother, Elaine Winton, and he made a commitment to talk openly about their family tragedy with the hope that doing so would help other rural families avoid suffering a similar loss.