Despite significantly higher rates of suicide among rural residents, mental health resources in rural Kansas continue to be lacking, panelists in Dodge City said last week. Chuck Strand of Rural Minds, a national non-profit, said self-reliance can be a challenge and an opportunity. "Someone mentioned the challenge of people in rural communities being very self-reliant and do-it-yourself," Strand said. "That mindset can be necessary to survive and thrive in rural communities, but it can be a real challenge when that mindset is driving a response to a mental health challenge or a potential mental illness." Rural Minds offers the information and resources so people can do it themselves, he said. Rural communities have a lack of access to both mental and physical health providers, Strand said. Telehealth has filled some of that gap. However, 30 percent of rural homes don't have access to reliable internet access.

The discussion of mental health in America has never been more important. With an estimated one in four Americans struggling with their mental health, this nationwide health crisis carries a weighty impact. Jeff Winton and his family became acutely aware of this fact when tragedy struck close to home in 2012. Jeff grew up in a town of 500 people in rural upstate New York, where his family still resides today. As a multi-general farming family, the Wintons are incredibly close-knit. This made it even more shocking when, in 2012, Jeff's nephew Brooks passed away by suicide at the age of 28. The Winton family, which includes Brooks' fiancé and then three-year-old twin boys, was devastated by the loss. They made it their mission to preserve Brooks' memory and legacy. Jeff spent the next decade researching the mental health resources available to those in rural areas and discussing with established mental health organizations the specific needs to the rural community. These organizations encouraged Jeff to start a foundation dedicated to serving those in rural America. Finally, once he was satisfied that he was well-educated and properly equipped to help, Jeff founded Rural Minds in 2021 in Brooks' honor.

Rural Minds Founder and Chairman, Jeff Winton, featured in The Invisible Americans Podcast – Episode 15: Rural Mental Health with Jeff Winton & Escaping Poverty with Dapper Dan

Brooks Winton died by suicide at 28 years old. He was Jeff Winton’s beloved nephew, and this tragedy inspired Jeff to found the nonprofit Rural Minds. Both Jeff and Brooks come from a long line of dairy farmers in upstate New York in an extremely small community of only 500 people. Some members of that community urged Jeff’s family to lie about Brooks’ cause of death. Though perhaps well-meaning, Jeff’s mother refused to be silenced, and they opened up this important conversation around mental health issues in rural communities.

Mental health has become a significant issue in rural communities, where rates of suicide may be 60% higher than in urban communities. People in rural communities may experience isolation that can exacerbate mental health problems; and mental health services are often sparse. Jeff Winton is the founder and executive director of Rural Minds, a nonprofit that aims to provide an informed voice and accurate information and resources on mental health in rural communities. Diana Mason, PhD, RN, spoke with Jeff Winton about his own experience with suicide in rural communities, the stigma associated with mental health problems, and what everyone can do to address these problems. This interview first aired on HealthCetera in the Catskills on WIOX Radio on July 5, 2023.

For the first time in 20 years, rural stakeholders say mental health and addiction will be more pressing over the next several years than access to basic health care. For the past two decades, the biggest issue in the survey was access to health care. But now, mental health ranks No. 1 and addiction ranks No. 2, regardless of age, race, occupation or region of the country… To address these issues, the Grange has partnered with the organization Rural Minds, a nonprofit whose mission is to serve as an informed voice for mental health in rural America and to provide mental health information and resources.

In this episode, we have a compelling conversation with Jeff Winton, the founder and chairman of Rural Minds, a nonprofit organization working to provide mental health information and support services for rural Americans. Rural Minds was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to address the significant impact on mental health in rural areas. The organization offers various resources and webinars on crucial topics like substance use disorder, sleep, and nutrition, aiming to normalize conversations about mental illness and reduce the stigma surrounding it. Through the power of storytelling, Rural Minds is putting a face on mental illness and creating a safe space for people to share their experiences.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall has had his own mental health struggles since the passing of his wife, Bonnie, in 2020. Since then, Duvall has shared how he has worked through his grief and has become an advocate for mental health services in rural America.   Then, National Association of Wheat Growers CEO Chandler Goule, Jeanette Jeffrey with HomePorts, and Rural Minds founder and chairman Jeff Winton offer their thoughts on how to break the stigma around seeking out mental health resources in rural areas. 

In their ongoing efforts to connect rural Americans across the country with existing mental health resources, Rural Minds recently partnered with the National Grange to present a webinar titled “Mental Health Benefits of Sleep, Nutrition, Exercise and Mindfulness.” Looking first at the mental health benefits of nutrition and exercise was Dawn Grittmann, PharmD, CPHQ, senior manager of National Education Programs, Research, Support & Education at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). She spoke about one of the programs – “Hearts+Minds” – the tagline of which is “mental health is physical health.” “Some things we want to convey to people is that small changes lead to big impacts,” Grittmann said. “Understand what you can do for your health and then do it.”

Growing up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, where the nearest town had a population of about 500 people, I have firsthand perspective on living in rural America. Rural communities are typically small and friendly — and the people are fiercely independent, yet quick to come together and help their neighbors in need. Over the years, however, I was aware that there was something going on in my small farming community that people kept hidden — a taboo topic. As I eventually discovered that there were people in my community who had a relative or a friend living with an untreated mental illness, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Yet, their struggles were met with silence because in this community — like in much of rural America — there was little information and few, if any, resources available.

As a native of Chautauqua County who has returned to live here, I was disappointed and concerned to learn about the seven local United Methodist churches leaving the denomination over LGBTQ+ equality (“Disaffliation Begins for Some Methodist Churches”, June 17th, 2023). I have had direct experience with some of the churches who are disassociating, including two different local UMC churches where my mother’s and nephew’s funerals were held. I am the founder and Board Chairman of Rural Minds, a nationwide not-for-profit organization based in Mayville where I now live. This organization was founded 20 months ago following my nephew’s suicide due to mental illness. He was born and raised in Chautauqua County and tragically died here at age 28. Our organization advocates for the 46 million Americans like my late nephew who live in rural America. Our mission is to help lessen and eventually eliminate the stigma, suffering and silence due to mental illness that still permeates small towns, farms and ranches, mining communities and fishing villages across this country.

The Rural Minds organization is working with established mental health nonprofits to bring resources to underserved rural communities. Founder Jeff Winton says 65% of counties in the United States do not have a practicing psychiatrist. Access to mental health care is a steep challenge to rural Americans in crisis. “Every 11 minutes, someone dies by suicide in America.” Jeff Winton, founder and chairman of the nonprofit organization Rural Minds, paused to let the number settle on the audience’s minds. He was speaking at the 2023 Cattlemen’s College last February.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Unfortunately, mental illness is a growing epidemic in Rural America. And it’s a tough topic to talk about. During the Cattle Industry Convention in New Orleans, Jeff Winton, a New York dairy farmer and founder of Rural Minds, discussed his quest to educate people about the seriousness of mental illness after losing his nephew to suicide. "We attempt to tell people is that mental illness is an illness very much like cancer and cardiovascular disease and diabetes," said Winton. "So, we need to start normalizing conversations, even though it is difficult, it should be looked upon as a disease like all the other illnesses that we do feel comfortable talking about."

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Rural Minds and the National Grange Society held a webinar discussing the challenges facing caregivers in rural America. Those challenges often get overlooked. Brittnee Henry is a communications and marketing professional who returned to her home in Iowa to care for her father. She made that decision when it became clear her father couldn’t live on his own anymore.

We’ve entered a therapy-friendly age: Online mental health companies ran ads during the Super Bowl and the Olympics, while a meme poking fun at people who resist counseling just went viral. It can be easy to forget that this is a relatively recent development, and that for many, therapy — and its attendant admission that all is not well — still carries a heavy stigma. This can be particularly true for older Americans, farmers, and rural residents (three groups with a lot of overlap). In farming communities, “mental illness is not considered an illness. In many cases, it’s considered a character flaw,” said New York dairy farmer Jeff Winton, founder of the mental health nonprofit Rural Minds. “It’s considered a personality weakness.”

Vice President of Communications Julie Lux represented Rural Minds in Fort Worth, TX, at AgRally 2023 – a live, nationally-broadcast television show on RFD-TV and the Cowboy Channel that celebrated National Ag Day. During the second hour of the show, Julie was featured along with Farm Fit Momma Amanda Nigg in a segment that provided tips on mental and physical wellness.

Rural Minds Founder and Chairman Jeff Winton discusses the impact of mental health challenges and need for access to information and support in rural America.

More than 100 million Americans live in an area where there’s a shortage of mental health professionals. According to the National Rural Health Association, about two-thirds of those areas are rural. Barriers to care can affect all aspects of daily life, and can lead to physical health challenges. Our guests help us understand the current state of mental health care in rural areas and what can be done to improve it.

Use of telemental health services expanded quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and all signs indicate this trend is here to stay. More than half of patients (57 percent) say they prefer using telehealth for regular mental health visits, according to a recent J.D. Power survey. A study from the Kaiser Family Foundation also found that more than one-third of outpatient care visits for mental health and substance use disorders are conducted via telehealth. Increased patient demand for mental telehealth services, as well as permanent policy changes allowing reimbursements for telemental and telebehavioral healthcare, mean providers are highly incentivized to implement the technologies and security measures needed to deliver optimal telemental care.