Family & Consumer Sciences (FCS) Education: Focus on Mental Health

Published: 2019
By Jasmine Carbajal

FCS Agent, Jasmine Carbajal, became certified in teaching Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) to adults in Montana and Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) to teens in Hill County. 2019 in our county was a year of increasing awareness of mental health and decrease the stigma in talking about mental health illnesses. Jasmine was able to collaborate with Havre High School and taught YAM, a 5-week session on mental health to 326 youth. The sessions included information on mental health symptoms and warning signs, including suicide. Teens also role-played situations that will better prepare them to deal with problems in the future. This evidence-based curriculum has showed to decrease suicidal thoughts and increase mental health awareness. Other new programs in the county in 2019 included Cooking with Kids, which was a partnership with the Hill County Health Department and the Early Childhood Investment Team of Hill County. Dining with Diabetes (DWD) was a pilot program in Havre with the collaboration of Bullhook Community Health Center. Based on survey information, some of the results include: 88% of DWD participants reported they will cook more at home using recipes provided by the classes and 63% check their feet daily. The FCS Agent also continued to teach vital programming in the areas of food safety, like the Food Handler Class. One hundred and eighty-nine Hill County and Rocky Boy residents were certified as Food Handlers in 2019. Jasmine also facilitated and hosted speakers and other Extension Agents to diversify the programming in the county, like a pie-making class, which was taught by the Cascade Extension FCS Agent.