Starting Conversations About Mental Health in Fayette County
Fayette County Public Health and the Healthy Fayette County Coalition partners went above and beyond to spread the word about reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness with the Make It OK campaign in May. By bringing the Make It OK message to local businesses and schools, the Fayette County Public Health team started important discussions on mental health that will leave an impact on community members lives beyond May. “We realized that everything comes back to stigma which is the whole underlying message of Make It OK,” said Maggie Gardner, Fayette County Public Health Specialist.
Through a 6 month process the Healthy Fayette County Coalition and Fayette County Public Health were able to identify high need areas to focus their limited resources. Mental health, along with prevention and nutrition, were main components that the leadership team decided to focus on. “We knew that getting into the schools was a priority for mental health awareness month, but we didn’t want to take up too much class time,” said Jessica Wegner, Fayette County Public Health Coordinator. “One of our other goals is to offer youth mental health first aid for all staff in the county. The layering with the fun, educational component for students plus the certified education we’re providing teachers and staff through their professional development is something that would be beneficial to have in every school district across the state.”
Students at all the districts in the community (including West Central Community School, North Fayette Valley Community School District, Oelwein Community School District, and Starmont Community School District) were encouraged to sign the Make It OK pledge, which includes 3 simple steps to take a stand against mental health stigma:
1. Learn. The more we learn about mental illness, the more common we realize they are.
2. Talk. The more we talk about mental illness, the closer we come to stopping the stigma.
3. Share. Encourage others to join by taking the pledge.
In exchange for signing the Make It OK pledge the students received swag items of their choice including key chains, seed packets, magnets, and of course the ever-popular rubber ducks!
To help celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, the schools held a week of themed days, all tied to mental health messaging. One school held a hide and seek inspired game that involved highly requested rubber ducks, and students were invited to a concert with local musician Casey Kline where he performed and shared his own mental health story. They were encouraged to wear tie-dye on “Tie-Dye Tuesday” and took part in Wellness Wednesday where they were taught about self-care during a pajama day. On “Talk About It Thursday” the school district encouraged everyone to wear green and shared information to help students talk about mental health and ending the stigma through sharing Make It OK resources. The school district also partnered with NAMI who shared their “Ending the Silence” presentation with students and staff. To wrap up the week, the “Family Friday theme” reminded students that they are never alone when it comes to mental health by encouraging students to wear their West Central school gear.
Throughout their celebrations, staff members at community schools made a point to ask students if they know that it’s OK to not be OK. By fostering a supportive culture around mental health, students were encouraged to open up about difficult things that they were dealing with outside of school such as family illness and other stressors that can have a major impact on mental health. The celebrations and events resonated with students, as Jessica described children sharing their current struggles with teachers and Fayette County Public Health employees.
The Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (UERPC) took part in Wear Green Day on May 16th through #MakeItOKFayetteCounty
Beyond partnering with the local school districts Jessica and Maggie, along with the Healthy Fayette County Coalition, also worked with community partners and businesses by sharing the tools and resources found in Iowa Healthiest State Initiative’s Mental Health Awareness Month’s toolkit. “We passed along the hashtag #MakeItOKFayetteCounty and I was surprised with how many people participated,” Jessica said. “I think more worksites have recognized mental health and the stigma surrounding it as a bigger issue.”
Opening the conversation about mental health and that it’s OK to not be OK is important for adults and children alike. By reminding youth that it’s okay to have bad days we can all work together, the same way so many leaders did in Fayette County, to end the stigma surrounding mental illness.
