With Washington State University Extension offices located in every county, Associate Professor Elizabeth Weybright sees more opportunities to provide behavioral health help where it’s most needed.
“People in rural communities may face geographic barriers to health care services or stigma associated with substance use disorder or mental health treatment,” said Weybright, faculty with WSU’s human development department. “A strength of WSU is we’re actively partnering with the communities we serve through Extension to enhance or create those behavioral health supports.”
“Behavioral health” can mean different things to different people, but it typically includes substance use disorders, mental health conditions, and suicide prevention.
Weybright co-leads the Northwest Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Collaborative (NW ROTAC), a regional hub providing training, technical assistance, and resources that support opioid use prevention, treatment, and recovery in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska.
Funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, NW ROTAC launched in 2019 at a time when opioid-related deaths were increasing ten-fold in some Washington rural communities, according to the University of Washington.
“There’s this interaction between mental health and well-being with physical health,” Weybright said. “Integrated behavioral health encompasses a more holistic view of health and health care that incorporates mental, physical, and emotional aspects.”
Extension programs like SNAP-Ed, AgrAbility, and new efforts led by Ashley Hall, associate professor of 4-H youth development, also continue to expand WSU’s behavioral health educational support and services.
Hall recently launched the WSU Collaborative Advocacy, Research, Education, and Support (CARES) initiative, which provides mental health training and outreach across Washington. CARES offers programs like Mental Health First Aid for adults and teens, the Question, Persuade, Refer suicide prevention training, resources like locking devices to prevent firearm injury, and education on safe medication storage.
In May, Hall delivered her team’s first teen Mental Health First Aid course tailored for school-based and 4-H youth. Funded in part by the Washington State Health Care Authority, these programs are free to the participants.
“The teens were really receptive to this training,” Hall said. “While I haven’t seen widespread teen mental health first aid implementation by 4-H at the national level yet, 4-H is uniquely suited for this kind of programming.”
According to the 2023 Washington Healthy Youth Survey, one in three 12th graders in Washington felt so sad or hopeless for at least two weeks that they stopped doing their usual activities.
“Though youth are more connected than ever through social media, we’re seeing alarming levels of isolation, anxiety, and depression,” said Hall. “This work is about more than saving lives, it’s also about improving them.”
With WSU Extension’s network of locations and personnel, evidence-informed trainings, public awareness campaigns, and extensive public website offering resources, Weybright sees more potential for behavioral health outreach moving forward.
“Considering Extension’s footprint across Washington, we’re positioned to continue leading in behavioral health,” she said. “We already have the community partnerships, the reach, and the tools to do this work well.”
About CAHNRS
The land-grant mission of WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences is made possible through the U.S. Hatch Act of 1887 and the U.S. Smith-Lever Act of 1914. Respectively, these Acts fund experiment stations and cooperative Extension efforts that aid Northwest growers, provide nutrition and health education, support rural businesses, enhance our environment, and much more. Hatch and Smith-Lever capacity funds drive our work for a more resilient, prosperous, and sustainable Washington and are matched by state and local funds.