Extract from Stuff news article Feb 27th 2024
Mental health projects for rural students receive funding | Stuff
“Research has shown that young farmers are more at risk of mental health struggles than any other age group in the rural sector. Researchers at Lincoln and Massey (Palmerston North) universities aim to change that with two mental health improvement projects which have received funding.
Both projects build on mental health improvement programme WellMates which has run within the education curriculum at Lincoln and Massey since 2021.
The programme delivered messages and strategies to rural students on how to better manage their mental health, especially in isolated rural environments. The projects aim to find how to better deliver these messages and what improvements can be made to available support services.
The Vic Davis Memorial Trust has funded the universities’ first project on building and supporting mental health for young people in rural communities. It aims to find what mental health messages and initiatives are delivered to rural university students and how they are received by different genders and cultures…………….”