It's officially summer, and we hope you are enjoying the abundance of sunshine.

We have lots of new, free resources available in this newsletter — from an upcoming webinar series on social determinants of health to a training-of-trainers series on the Adult Resilience Curriculum (ARC) for Educators. Read on for more information about those opportunities.

Please take care to read our first news item regarding the needs assessment survey we are conducing through July 16. This is your chance to tell us what types of training and technical assistance we can offer to you and your practice. We deeply value your input, as this helps us improve our utility in our region.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reply to this email.

Thank you,

Our Center is conducting a needs assessment survey through Friday, July 16. This is your opportunity to inform us of your mental health training and technical assistance needs.

In addition to completing the survey, we ask that you consider:

The results of this survey will guide our educational, training, and technical assistance for the Mid-America MHTTC. No individual participant names or identifiers will be recorded or shared; responses are anonymous. Your participation is important and appreciated as it will provide valuable information to better inform our training and available resources. All data will be securely stored and results will be presented in aggregate form making it impossible to identify responses.

If you have questions about the survey, how the data will be used, or the purpose of this study, please contact Shelbie Johnson at [email protected].

Webinar attendees will learn how economic stability, access to quality education, access to quality health care, neighborhood and environmental factors, and social and community context affect patients’ health and quality-of-life outcomes.

After an introduction to social determinants of health on July 15, webinars will be divided into two flash presentations on SDOH-related topics. A certificate for one contact hour will be provided upon completion of each session.

Extension offices and other organizations serving rural populations are invited to attend Implementing Farm Stress Grab-n-Go Kits in HHS Region 7 and 8 Communities, a webinar in which Technology Transfer Center (TTC) Network trainers will introduce a new mental health resource package available for dissemination to farmers.

During this presentation, scheduled for 10-11 a.m. CT Wednesday, July 28, participants will learn who could benefit from using these free resources, how to use the resources effectively, and a brief background on the conversations and research that spurred the resources' development.

This past year created escalating levels of mental health distress for everyone. With the onset of the pandemic, farming and ranching communities already dealing with high stress levels saw incidents of drug and alcohol abuse rapidly increase, as well as rising numbers of death by suicide.

In response to the increasing need for mental health tools designed to address the specific needs of farm and ranching communities, the Mid-America MHTTC, the Mid-America Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC), and the Mountain Plains MHTTC collaborated to develop a set of easy-to-use ("Grab-n-Go") presentations and flyers for use by extension offices and behavioral health providers in farm communities. Based on interviews with extension agents in HHS Region 7 and HHS Region 8, the team identified four key areas of concern: mental health awareness, stigma, co-occurring disorders, and death by suicide.

The grab-and-go kits include resources in these four areas as well as guidance for sharing them with community members.

Register for the webinar here.

Districts and/or building level crisis teams are invited to apply by 5 p.m. Friday, July 23 to participate in our 2021-2022 Mid-America Crisis Planning Learning Community, which will focus on assessing current crisis response plans and implementing best practices in school crisis prevention and intervention efforts.

Teams selected to participate in the learning community will work toward the common mission of meeting student and staff mental health needs during crises and adopting policies and procedures to mitigate the crisis experience and facilitate evidence-based responses.

Participation benefits include:

To learn more and apply, visit the web page here. Download the flyer here.

Our Center has received numerous requests for training in the Adult Resilience Curriculum (ARC) for Educators, and now we are excited to offer a 2021-2022 training-of-trainers series for school, district, educational agency, or state-level teams interested in implementing the ARC within their schools or districts.

To take part, applicants will need to identify 4-8 team members, including persons responsible for implementing the ARC, and submit their applications by 5 p.m. CT Friday, Aug. 20. We strongly recommend that teams include at least one administrative leader or decision-maker, even if this person will not be leading curriculum delivery. In the event of space limitations, preference will be given to teams in HHS Region 7 (Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri).

Please apply online using this form. Download a flyer for the series here.

A free three-part training package on mental health and well-being, co-developed by the MHTTC Network and National Center for School Mental Health, is now available to educators and school personnel.

Classroom WISE (Well-Being Information and Strategies for Educators) presents concrete, universal approaches to promoting student mental health and creating safe and supportive classroom environments; describes student behaviors that may indicate a mental health concern; and provides specific skills and strategies to engage and support students with mental health concerns. It includes a self-guided online course, video library, resource collection, and website focused on educator mental health literacy.

Access Classroom WISE here.

In our latest episode of Burnout Busters, our hosts return to deliver a few off-season updates.

First, Dr. Jordan Thayer and Dr. Hannah West tease their guest spot on RN Huddle, a podcast on all things nursing brought to you by the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha. After an especially demanding year for nurses, the Burnout Busters chat with Renee Paulin, MSN, RN, CWOCN, about helpful well-being strategies for the profession. You can find that episode at https://rnhuddle.unmc.edu/ after it drops next week.

Anyone interested in organizational-level well-being will not want to miss the MHTTC Network’s free national symposium to be held Aug. 5-6. During this two-day virtual event, attendees will hear from national experts with experience implementing system-wide well-being programming. Attendees will learn the lasting benefits organizations can experience upon investing in these values and walk away with practical measures their organizations can implement at various levels, especially with administrative buy-in. Check back here soon or visit mhttcnetwork.org for registration information.

Finally, we are seeking your input on Burnout Busters! We want to make a podcast YOU want to listen to. How can we help you enhance your well-being through the lovely medium (we’re biased) that is podcasting? Please visit https://bit.ly/BB_Survey_S1 to take our short survey.

Expect the Unexpected: Preparing for Crises in Schools, our free webinar series geared toward education professionals, administrators, and other stakeholders, wrapped up Monday, June 28.

Now, you can watch all of the webinars from the series at your convenience here or by clicking the links below.

Watch the webinar

Mid-America MHTTC | 402.552.7697 | MHTTCnetwork.org/midamerica

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