June 16, 2026
You will not need to register for specific sessions. You may attend whichever session you wish on the day of the conference.
Breakout Session 1 - 10:15-11:30 am CT
1a. From Implementation to Impact: Men’s Sheds as a Public Health Strategy for Suicide Prevention
1b. Early Identification: Using School-Based Wellness Screening to Prevent Crisis and Strengthen Connection to Care
1c. Deaths of Despair in Wisconsin, West Virginia, and New York: the Role of Labor Rights and Further Insights from PhD Research
Breakout Session 2 - 12:30-1:45pm CT
2a. Helping the Helpers: Mental Wellbeing of the Funeral Professional
2b. From Risk to Resilience: Building Protective Factors Through Mentoring and Belonging
2c. When Timing is Everything: What data says about suicide deaths and criminal justice involvement
Breakout Session 3 - 2:00-3:15pm CT
3a. Implementing Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM): Lessons Learned from Two Wisconsin Healthcare Systems
3b. Building a Comprehensive School-Based Approach to Supporting Youth Mental Health
3c. Bienvenidos - Supporting Immigrant Farmworkers in Wisconsin
1a. From Implementation to Impact: Men’s Sheds as a Public Health Strategy for Suicide Prevention
Men experience disproportionately higher rates of suicide and are often less likely to engage in traditional mental health services. Social isolation and stigma remain persistent barriers to prevention. Men’s Sheds—community-based spaces that emphasize connection, purpose, and peer support through shared activities—have emerged as a promising, non-clinical approach to addressing these gaps. This presentation shares lessons learned from implementing a Men’s Shed in Wauwatosa, located in Milwaukee County, led by a local health department in partnership with community stakeholders. Presenters will describe the rationale for selecting the Men’s Shed model, strategies used to engage men and build trust, and key partnerships that supported program launch. The session will also highlight challenges encountered during implementation, including outreach, sustainability, and balancing structure with participant-led ownership. Grounded in a public health and protective factors framework, this presentation explores how Men’s Sheds can function as an upstream suicide prevention strategy by reducing social isolation, strengthening belonging, and normalizing connection outside of clinical settings. Attendees will leave with practical insights, considerations for equity and inclusion, and actionable takeaways to inform replication or adaptation of the Men’s Shed model in other Wisconsin communities.
- Objective 1: Explain how Men’s Sheds align with public health approaches to suicide prevention.
- Objective 2: Identify key components and partnerships needed to successfully launch a Men’s Shed or similar program in a local community.
- Objective 3: Apply implementation lessons from Wauwatosa to develop or strengthen non-clinical, community-based suicide prevention efforts.
Hannah Gumina, MPH, CHES is a dedicated public health professional with a focus on community health education, program management, and harm reduction. She currently serves as a Substance Use Specialist at the Wauwatosa Health Department, where she leads initiatives to reduce substance use-related harm in the community. Hannah is responsible for implementing innovative strategies, including a harm reduction vending machine to improve access to resources, and the facilitation of the Wauwatosa Fatality Review Team that works to identify trends in overdose and suicide fatalities for prevention opportunities. Previously, Hannah served as the Community Engagement Coordinator at Vivent Health, where she developed culturally relevant messaging and conducted focus groups to address barriers faced by people who inject drugs and those living with HIV when attempting behavior change to reduce risk. Hannah holds a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) with an emphasis in Community and Behavioral Health Promotion from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, with a minor in At-Risk Child and Youth Care. She is actively involved with the Center for Substance Use Research and Intervention at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where she serves as a Community Advisory Board Member. Hannah’s research and professional interests include harm reduction, health equity, and creating solutions to address public health disparities.
Carmen Pangilinan, APSW
1b. Early Identification: Using School-Based Wellness Screening to Prevent Crisis and Strengthen Connection to Care
Early identification of mental health concerns is essential to preventing crisis and supporting student well-being. Many youth struggle silently with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and co-occurring challenges; without proactive screening, these concerns often go unrecognized until they escalate. Samaritan’s Wellness screen program provides a voluntary, confidential, school-based mental wellness screening using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-Youth PLUS, a well-researched, valid, and reliable tool that assesses emotional distress; non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, and substance use via the CRAFFT supplement. The tool and screening process are reviewed annually by the Child and Adolescent Research in Emotion (CARE) Lab at Lawrence University to ensure ongoing quality. Among 2,421 students screened in the 2024-2025 school year, nearly 875 were identified as having a potential mental health concern. Over 190 reported experiencing suicidal thoughts within the past 90 days, and approximately 35 reported feeling suicidal on the day of their screening. Of these students, 441 were successfully connected to care, and 92.99% of parents or caregivers were engaged to provide support. Clinicians meet with students who screen positive on the same day to assess safety, offer guidance, and provide recommendations for next steps, ensuring timely intervention and support. Wellness Screen does more than detect concerns, it translates screening into intervention that includes safety planning, family engagement and connection to care, reducing stigma and strengthening protective factors. This session will demonstrate how school-based program can move from screening to meaningful action, showing the measurable difference early identification makes for students, families and communities.
- Objective 1: Demonstrate the value of early identification by examining how school based mental wellness screening can uncover emerging concerns such as anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and substance use before they escalate into crises.
- Objective 2: Describe the Wellness Screen intervention pathway, including same day clinical follow up, safety assessment, family engagement, and connection to appropriate supports, highlighting how screening results translate into timely, meaningful action.
- Objective 3: Evaluate the measurable impact of a comprehensive screening program on student well being, caregiver involvement, and community mental health outcomes, emphasizing how proactive systems strengthen protective factors and reduce stigma.
Taylor Connell-Screening Services Director-Taylor Connell brings more than a decade of experience in child welfare, youth development, and volunteer leadership to her role as Screening Services Director at Samaritan. She oversees our Wellness Screen program, leads the expansion of our CANDID screening services for partner organizations, and guides the development of Samaritan’s new Adult Wellness Screen. Before joining Samaritan, Taylor served in multiple leadership roles at CASA of Brown County, most recently as Associate Director of Youth & Mentoring. There, she supervised advocacy teams, expanded mentoring programs for youth ages 11–23, and strengthened community partnerships across the county. Taylor holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from St. Norbert College and is pursuing her Master of Social Work at Walden University. She is trained in trauma-informed care, Youth Mental Health First Aid, and suicide prevention, and was recognized as an Insight Publications 40 Under 40 honoree for her impact in youth advocacy. She is passionate about creating safe, supportive pathways for youth and adults and is excited to advance Samaritan’s comprehensive screening services.
Daryian Matthews-Data and Systems Coordinator-Daryian is responsible for data management for Apricot and Candid products, supporting the Wellness Screen team. Daryian is a 2025 graduate of Lawrence University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Philosophy. He has plans to pursue a graduate degree in Forensic Psychology. Daryian has experience working in the CARE lab at Lawrence where he was responsible for data analysis, reviewing items on the Wellness Screen Program, and working with participants on multiple studies. He is excited to work at Samaritan and learn more about the world of data management and work a job that has a positive impact on the community.
1c. Deaths of Despair in Wisconsin, West Virginia, and New York
Between 1999 and 2023, approximately 3.4 million people have died in the United States from overdoses, alcohol-related-diseases, and suicide, collectively known as Deaths of Despair (DoD). Economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton hypothesize that this originates in part from long-lasting socio-economic pain. Specifically, they advance a theory of cumulative disadvantage for the working class at the point of entry in the labor market. Beginning in the late 1970s, a decline in union density, real earnings, and job quality combined with reductions and restrictions in the US welfare system have caused widespread economic insecurity. Social capital began to decline concurrently. This thesis analyses how the US labor rights system may be contributing to this public health crisis through the degradation of power and social capital thereby increasing vulnerability to adverse mental health outcomes.. It uses the theory of structural injustice as a theoretical framework. To contextualize how socioeconomic factors are contributing to worsening mental health outcomes, 43 semi-structured interviews were conducted across three case study states: Wisconsin, West Virginia, and New York. It will also explore how labor rights may be an underappreciated social determinant of mental health and may be exacerbating or creating vulnerabilities to DoD. It analyses the connection of economic issues like precarious work, the fall of trade unions, and loss of economic opportunity with Deaths of Despair This presentation argues that labor unions can serve as a public health tools using both economic power and solidarity to affect social change and achieve greater realization of socioeconomic rights.
- Objective 1: Impact of economic precarity on health outcomes
- Objective 2: Role of employment and labor rights protections
- Objective 3: The potential role of trade unions
Quinn O'Mahar, PhD student is a third year PhD student in Law and Social Justice at Ulster University in Belfast, United Kingdom. His PhD thesis examines how the American labour rights system may be contributing to the epidemic of Deaths of Despair, deaths from suicides, overdoses, and alcohol-related diseases, in the United States. His research focus and knowledge pertain to international human rights law, social determinants of mental health, labour rights, and social capital. Over the course of his PhD, he has presented at and attended numerous conferences, symposiums, and workshops including but not limited to: Sociolegal Studies Association Conferences 2024 and 2025, Sociology Association of Ireland Conference 2025, International Society of Critical Health Psychology Conference 2025, and the Suicides Cultures and the Sociology of Suicide Symposium 2025. He received his Master of Laws in International Human Rights Law from the renowned Irish Centre for Human Rights at University of Galway School of Law in 2022. He received his BA in International Relations from Beloit College in 2016.
2a. Helping the Helpers: Mental Wellbeing of the Funeral Professional
It is well known that first responders and healthcare professionals experience negative mental health outcomes due to the nature of their roles. Research, education, and interventions have been developed specifically for these professions. Working alongside first responders, funeral professionals are often excluded from these discussions and support. Funeral professionals are part of a unique profession that exposes them to traumatic deaths, high job demands, low job resources, and occupational stigma, which raises concerns for potential elevated suicide risk. Our interviews with funeral professionals painted a picture of a stressful and rewarding “calling” that needed more than individual coping strategies for adequate mental health care. We will provide evidence for inclusion of funeral professionals in discussions around secondary trauma, and make suggestions for how our funeral professionals’ mental well-being could best be supported.
- Objective 1: At the end of the presentation, attendees will explain protective factors for funeral professionals related to their mental well-being.
- Objective 2: At the end of the presentation, attendees will identify unique aspects of the funeral profession that may contribute to negative mental health outcomes.
- Objective 3: During the presentation, attendees will discuss potential intervention points to support funeral professionals’ mental well-being.
Didi Wu, MD student is a medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin with a strong investment in suicide prevention. She volunteered at a crisis line for more than four years, during which she was privy to moments of great individual pain and resilience. Now, she contributes to suicide prevention research with a sociological lens while still honoring individual differences.
Tricia Monroe, MEd, MA, MCHES serves as the Program Manager at the Medical College of Wisconsin in the Comprehensive Injury Center’s Division of Suicide Research and Healing. Tricia earned a master’s in health education and promotion from East Carolina University and is a Certified Health Education Specialist. She has training in Mental Health First Aid and received Grief Support Specialist training from University of Wisconsin Madison. Her research and professional interests include postvention practices within a social justice framework, grief experiences after a suicide loss across racial and ethnic populations, and community empowerment through collaborative academic partnerships.
2b. From Risk to Resilience: Building Protective Factors Through Mentoring and Belonging
Suicide prevention efforts often focus on identifying warning signs and responding during moments of crisis. While critical, research consistently shows that protective factors built long before a crisis occurs play a powerful role in reducing suicide risk—especially for youth. This interactive session reframes suicide prevention as a relational and developmental process, emphasizing the essential role of youth-serving adults in building connection, belonging, and emotional understanding. Drawing from evidence-based protective factor frameworks, trauma-informed principles, attachment theory, and lived experience, participants will explore how unmet relational needs and invisible loss can increase suicide risk over time—and how consistent, caring adults can interrupt these pathways. A brief case example of a cohort-based mentoring experience is included to illustrate how belonging and stable adult relationships function as protective factors in non-clinical settings. Participants will engage through polling, chat reflection, and breakout discussion to identify protective factors they already provide and practical ways to strengthen them within their roles. The session aligns with Wisconsin’s Suicide Prevention Plan and adheres to recommended suicide prevention messaging. Participants will leave with concrete, actionable strategies to build hope, connection, and resilience for youth—before crisis occurs.
- Objective 1: Identify evidence-based suicide protective factors for youth, including consistent adult relationships, belonging, emotional literacy, and purpose, and describe how these factors reduce suicide risk at a population level.
- Objective 2: Recognize common relational and systemic gaps—such as inconsistency, unaddressed loss, and unmet attachment needs—that can increase suicide risk among youth, particularly when distress is misunderstood or mislabeled.
- Objective 3: Apply practical, developmentally appropriate strategies to strengthen mentoring relationships and foster belonging in youth-serving settings, even when family or primary support systems are limited or unavailable.
Laura Newman, MSCJ is a Mental Health Program Manager, educator, and suicide prevention advocate with extensive experience designing and delivering evidence-informed trainings for state agencies, educational institutions, and community organizations across Wisconsin. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor and has facilitated multiple trainings and speaking engagements for supervisors, educators, healthcare professionals, and public-sector leaders focused on suicide prevention, grief and loss, trauma-informed practice, emotional literacy, and building protective factors at the individual and systems levels. Laura is the founder of Strong Culture, LLC where she partners with organizations to strengthen workplace and community culture through upstream mental health prevention, leadership development, and practical skill-building. Her work emphasizes how everyday interactions, policies, and leadership behaviors shape psychological safety, belonging, and resilience—long before crisis occurs. Through keynote presentations, workshops, and ongoing partnerships, she supports state agencies and organizations in moving beyond awareness toward sustained, culturally responsive prevention strategies. Her professional background includes roles in higher education and community-based wellness settings, as well as national workplace mental health initiatives at WebMD Health Services, contributing to population-level well-being strategies. In addition to her academic training in psychology and criminal justice, Laura brings lived experience shaped by navigating complex family systems, loss, and unmet relational needs during critical developmental periods. This perspective informs her approach to suicide prevention as a public health and social justice issue—centered on mentoring, consistency, and belonging as essential protective factors for youth and young adults.
2c. When Timing is Everything: What data says about suicide deaths and criminal justice involvement
Using the Wisconsin Violent Death Reporting System (WVDRS), we examined the relationship between suicide deaths and criminal justice involvement. Beyond traditional risk factors, the timing of suicide deaths appears linked to factors within the criminal justice systems’ control. Identifying patterns in criminal justice timing, crime types, and suicide deaths presents opportunities for life-saving interventions. We analyzed Wisconsin suicide deaths from 2018-2023 where decedents had recent criminal legal issues, were in custody, or were recently released (N=576). Case narratives were reviewed to identify timing and nature of criminal justice involvement. The sample was predominantly male (90%), White (86%), non-Hispanic (95%), with a median age of 40 years. Sixty-five percent of deaths occurred in urban counties. Primary suicide methods included firearms (44%), hanging/strangulation/suffocation (39%), and poisoning (10%). Contributing factors included mental health concerns (48%), alcohol/substance use issues (49%), and intimate partner problems (34%). Criminal justice contacts fell into thirteen categories, with top forms being out on bail (27%), under supervision like probation/parole (13%), and in custody (12%). Leading crime types were alcohol-related offenses (20%), domestic violations (17%), and crimes against children (15%). By criminal justice agency involvement timing: 23% died during law enforcement interaction, 43% while involved with courts, 25% under jail/corrections supervision, and 14% either 30+ days post-involvement or before agency contact. Comparative analysis of the three primary crime categories (alcohol-related, domestic violence, and child crimes) revealed notable differences. Applying evidence-based suicide prevention strategies within existing criminal justice frameworks offers a viable pathway to reduce these preventable deaths.
- Objective 1: Understand NVDRS Data Collection and Study Methodology: Participants will learn how the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) operates, including its use of multiple data sources to create comprehensive death reports that go beyond standard mortality data. The presentation will explain why this detailed approach is valuable for suicide prevention research and describe how the data was prepared for this study, including any relevant limitations.
- Objective 2: Identify Key Findings on Suicide and Criminal Justice Involvement: Participants will examine trends and patterns in the findings concerning suicide deaths and criminal justice system contact. The presenter will highlight significant findings and explain the rationale for focusing on specific aspects of the criminal justice-suicide intersection.
- Objective 3: Develop Collaborative Prevention Strategies: Participants will engage in facilitated discussion to identify systemic gaps, barriers to care, and opportunities for intervention. Through collaborative problem-solving, the group will explore actionable strategies across public health, criminal justice, and healthcare sectors, considering how existing programs (such as Zero Suicide, Safety Planning, and Community Corrections) can be leveraged or enhanced to prevent suicide deaths among justice-involved individuals.
Lindsay Emer, PhD is a Research Scientist in the Division of Public Health at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS). She currently oversees the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) and State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS) programs in Wisconsin. She works closely with Vital Records, Coroners/Medical Examiners, and Law Enforcement agencies to collect data for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on all homicides, suicides, legal intervention, unintentional firearm, and drug overdose deaths in the state. Lindsay has a PhD in Public Health and has worked as a researcher in HIV/AIDS, substance use disorders, sexual assault, sex trafficking, childhood lead exposure, and firearm violence. In prior positions, she consulted drug courts on program evaluation for the National Center for State Courts, provided training and technical assistance to overdose fatality and sexual assault review teams across Wisconsin for the Institute for Health and Equity at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and facilitated the Milwaukee Sexual Assault Review and Milwaukee Domestic Violence Review for Aurora Health Care in partnership with the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission. Before entering graduate school, she worked in the community for six years at the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin and Meta House, a substance use disorder treatment center for women.
Jean Papalia has spent decades creating connections between law enforcement, mental health, and community support. As a retired City of Madison Police Officer, she's built strong partnerships to better serve those in crisis. Since retiring, Jean has continued this critical work, training thousands in suicide prevention through QPR and, more recently, expanded her impact with Holding Space - a program that fosters open dialogue on lived experience, community care, and social justice. A decade ago, while promoting The Gun Shop Project in Dane County, Jean partnered with gun shop owner Chuck Lovelace to expand access to safe, temporary firearm storage. Thanks to their advocacy, this initiative has grown into a statewide effort, with 44 gun shops now offering this critical service to veterans and civilians alike. In addition to her advocacy work, she is a Quality Assurance Program Specialist at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services collecting and analyzing data on suicides in Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Violent Death Reporting System program.
3a. Implementing Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM)
Reducing access to lethal means is a critical, evidence-based component of suicide prevention. Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) is a brief counseling strategy designed to help individuals at risk of suicide and their families/support person(s) reduce access to lethal means, particularly firearms and medications, and increase safety. CALM is a supported strategy by the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Comprehensive Suicide Prevention (CSP) program and the Zero Suicide framework, as it promotes protective environments for people at risk of suicide and self-harm. This presentation explores systemic strategies for integrating CALM across clinical environments with two large health systems in Wisconsin (Aspirus Health and Children’s Wisconsin) and the communities they serve. The session highlights key operational elements—including policy adoption, clinician training, electronic health record (EHR) integration, cross departmental collaboration and safe storage device distribution—to ensure CALM is delivered consistently and with fidelity. Presenters will share data, successes and challenges experienced during CALM implementation, and the benefits of participating in a Community of Practice and multidisciplinary partnerships. Attendees will gain actionable strategies for embedding lethal means counseling into everyday clinical practice, supporting a unified, proactive approach to saving lives. CALM implementation at Aspirus Health and Children’s Wisconsin is supported by grant funding from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, as part of the CDC’s CSP Program. This grant funding supports training and technical assistance for CALM implementation with the aim to reach populations disproportionately affected by suicide, specifically rural males ages 25+ and adolescents ages 10-19.
- Objective 1: Participants will be able to describe Counseling on Access to Lethal Means as an approach to suicide prevention.
- Objective 2: Participants will learn about the implementation and clinical integration of CALM, including a safe storage distribution program, within multiple health systems.
- Objective 3: Participants will understand the value of participating in a Community of Practice and multidisciplinary partnerships to support suicide prevention initiatives.
Heidi Pritzl, MSW, LCSW earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Hawai‘i Pacific University (HPU) in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, where she completed advanced studies in social work. She has established her professional career in northern Wisconsin, beginning as a clinical social worker and psychotherapist with Aspirus Health. In her current role as Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the Aspirus System, Heidi leads system wide initiatives focused on evidence based suicide prevention practices, provider education, and community outreach. She is credentialed as a CALM Clinical Trainer and CALM Conversations Trainer through CALM America, and she serves as a QPR Master Trainer certified by the QPR Institute. Her work centers on expanding the capacity of healthcare professionals and community members to recognize suicide risk, respond effectively, and support individuals in crisis through informed, compassionate intervention. Ms. Pritzl is guided by a belief in destigmatizing mental health treatment and strengthening protective environments. She often reflects, “I know my work will be done when people begin receiving cards, casseroles, and flowers for a recent mental health diagnosis or after a hospital stay on a psychiatric inpatient unit.”
Jennifer Zaspel, MD is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, the Medical Director of Emergency Mental and Behavioral Health at Children’s Wisconsin (CW), and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). She is the consulting psychiatrist in the CW Emergency Department Trauma Center (EDTC), and she has been a member of the EDTC’s Mental and Behavioral Health Crisis Response Team since its inception. She has made significant contributions to collaborative efforts with community mental health partners on behalf of Children’s and MCW, including her ongoing work with Milwaukee’s Suicide Review Commission and Milwaukee County’s Youth Behavioral Health Care Delivery Redesign. She is an affiliate faculty member of MCW's Comprehensive Injury Center and is currently leading CW's efforts on bringing Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) training to CW providers and expanding access to free safe storage products across the organization.
JP Jameson, PhD is a Professor of Psychology at Appalachian State University and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in North Carolina. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, completed a predoctoral internship at the Salem VA Medical Center, and completed a post-doctoral residency at the Baylor College of Medicine and Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas. He directs the Assessment, Support, and Counseling (ASC) Center, a school-based mental health program to provide free mental health services for K–12 students and their families through a university-community partnership. In addition to his work locally, JP serves as the Executive Director of CALM America, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the development and dissemination of means safety interventions for suicide prevention. This approach, pioneered by CALM, promotes safety while respecting the rights and autonomy of individuals at risk.
Amanda Tabin serves as Safe Kids & Injury Prevention Coordinator at Aspirus Wausau Hospital, a Level II Trauma Center in Wausau, WI, part of the Aspirus Health System. Her work focuses on implementing evidence-based injury prevention programs, education and practices to reduce top causes of traumatic injury and injury-related death in North Central WI, including falls, motor vehicle and recreational vehicle crashes, and suicide and self-harm injuries. Amanda served as the Injury Prevention Committee Chair for WI’s State Trauma Advisory Council from 2022-2026 and is a member of Marathon County’s death review teams, including the Suicide Death Review Team established in 2022. She is co-leading Aspirus Health’s efforts to implement Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM), including distribution of free safe storage devices. She is an authorized CALM Trainer. In her role, Amanda also coordinates the Safe Kids Marathon County Coalition and is a Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor (CPST-I), Stepping On Facilitator, Stop the Bleed Instructor, and trainer for QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer).
3b. Building a Comprehensive School-Based Approach to Supporting Youth Mental Health
Creating a school culture that supports youth mental health, reduces stigma, and helps prevent suicide is essential to a healthy school community. This presentation highlights free, accessible NAMI programs for K–12 students, parents, and school staff. Programs include an extracurricular mental health club and evidence-based educational presentations tailored to students of different ages, caregivers, and educators. Participants will learn the impact and benefits of bringing programs to schools and youth organizations—increasing student belonging and social connectedness, destigmatizing mental illness, and reducing stigma around suicide. Participants will also learn steps for implementation and barriers to navigate with ease.
- Objective 1: Participants will identify and describe free mental health programming for students of all ages, their families and school staff.
- Objective 2: Participants will know where to find current information on resources to support mental health in their school community.
- Objective 3: Participants will be able to identify barriers to implementing mental illness education programs and solutions to overcome those barriers.
Molly Shea is the youth program coordinator at NAMI Wisconsin. She is passionate about providing mental health and mental illness support and education to youth, families, and youth-serving professionals.
3c. Bienvenidos - Supporting Immigrant Farmworkers in Wisconsin
Mental and behavioral health challenges are among the many significant health risks facing immigrant dairy farmworkers (IDFs) in the United States. IDFs encounter unique stressors that can contribute to substance use disorder, depression, and suicide risk. For example, high levels of acculturative stress and isolation have been linked with suicide among migrant farmworkers. Financial and health concerns and poor working conditions have also been shown to contribute to behavioral health concerns in this population. At the same time, there is a lack of coordinated behavioral health support for IDFs, which could contribute to increasing isolation and worsening behavioral health outcomes. Our project aimed to close this gap by providing targeted information, resources, and opportunities for peer connections. The culturally responsive “Bienvenido” curriculum was shortened and adapted into two dairy worker sessions. Prior to the trainings, an in-person meeting with dairy farmers was used to secure their support for their workers’ participation in trainings and to solicit farmer input on additional workforce needs. Such input was used to guide outreach to exhibitor organizations who committed to attend the Bienvenido trainings as part of a resource fair, and to compile a notebook with information and resources for dairy breakrooms. Forty dairy workers from seven farms attended the trainings. Several public health, health care, and community organizations were present at the resource fair at the first training event and are interested in strengthening ties to dairy workers.
- Objective 1: Describe the mental and behavioral health needs of immigrant dairy farmworkers.
- Objective 2: Explore risk factors contributing to suicide among immigrant dairy farmworkers.
- Objective 3: Detail the results of a project aimed at building connection and mental health literacy among immigrant dairy farmworkers.
Sara Kohlbeck, PhD, MPH is the Director of the Division of Suicide Research and Healing in the Comprehensive Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Kohlbeck is also the Assistant Director of the PhD program in Public and Community Health at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Sara received her PhD in Public and Community Health from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2022, her Master of Public Health from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2015, and her Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 2000. Sara’s research interests focus on understanding suicide from a public health perspective. Specifically, she is conducting research that focuses on better understanding suicide among disproportionately affected populations, including farmers, veterans, and youth of color, to facilitate the development of appropriate prevention strategies. She is also engaged in community-based research with communities across Wisconsin who are implementing suicide prevention activities.