skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Israel, Iran trade strikes as Trump weighs U.S. involvement in conflict; Challenge to ND gender-affirming care ban in play, despite SCOTUS ruling; 'Jubilee Day' was honored before Juneteenth in 1800s Indiana; Ohio urged to restore $61M for foster care in final budget talks.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Lawmakers on both sides urge President Trump not to enter the Israel-Iran war. Supreme Court deals the transgender community a major blow by upholding a Tennessee state law.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Hurricane Helene mobilized the North Carolina community of Marshall in unexpected ways, giant data centers powering AI want cheap rural land but can face community pushback, and ceramics made by Cherokee potters honor multiple generations.

Mental Health First-Aid Training Offered for Rural Virginians

play audio
Play

Monday, December 13, 2021   

RICHMOND, Va. - Substance-use disorder can go hand in hand with mental-health issues, and folks in rural Virginia can take a mental-health first-aid training course to better tackle the problem.

The free two-day program takes place starting January 7 and will focus on a five-step action plan that helps folks recognize signs and symptoms.

Certified Mental Health First Aid trainer Jordan Laney is the program coordinator for the Virginia Rural Health Association, and is leading the course sponsored by the association.

She said the session is especially timely as the Appalachian region, and much of America, has been hit hard by a spike in drug overdoses during the pandemic.

"While we're working through COVID," said Laney, "I think that mental-health issues are intensified really by isolation and anxiety that the pandemic has brought into everyday life. And being able to support one another and talk about things that are often stigmatized is incredibly important."

She said folks will need Internet access to participate in the virtual training. For more information or if you need help accessing broadband, go to the Virginia Rural Health Association website at VRHA.org.

Katrina Broughman is the director of Recover Virginia/Recover Fest, which is co-sponsoring the training session. She said folks who live in rural areas have been hit hard even before the pandemic by substance-use disorder and mental and behavioral issues.

"We don't have as much access to mental-health services and programs as people who may be in a more urban area," said Broughman. "So I find it very important, and anything we can do to help people to make them feel like they're not being left behind and that their mental health and physical health matters."

More than 100,000 Americans died of overdoses during the pandemic's 12-month peak that ended in April, up almost 30% from the 78,000 deaths the previous year, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics.



Disclosure: Virginia Rural Health Association contributes to our fund for reporting on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Health Issues, LGBTQIA Issues, Rural/Farming. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A parklet is an elevated public space, usually converted from a parking space and used to enhance community experience and support local businesses. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Eight Wisconsin cities, including four rural communities, will receive improvements to help make their communities more livable. Eleven grantees …


Social Issues

play sound

A bill prohibiting credit reporting on Oregonians' medical debt has been signed into law by Gov. Tina Kotek. Hailed as a significant victory for …

Environment

play sound

June is World Oceans Month, and advocates are warning that industrial shipping pollution hurts both oceans and port communities. At least 31 …


Flowers and notes are placed outside the Brooklyn Park home of state Rep. Melissa Hortman after the Minnesota lawmaker and her husband were fatally shot in what police say was a politically motivated attack. (Mike Moen/PNS)

Social Issues

play sound

Minnesotans gathered at the state Capitol last night for a candlelight vigil for Rep. Melissa Hortman, D-Brooklyn Park, after she was assassinated …

Social Issues

play sound

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday released an opinion that allows Tennessee to keep in place a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. While seen …

More than 500 Ohio children were reported sleeping in county government offices over a one-year period due to a lack of foster care placements. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Ohio child welfare advocates are urging lawmakers to restore more than $60 million in funding to address the state's ongoing foster care placement cri…

Social Issues

play sound

A Pennsylvania literacy organization is commemorating the Juneteenth holiday by highlighting the history and contributions of Black people in the Unit…

Environment

play sound

Forest fires have broken out in parts of New Mexico that state forecasters had already warned would see an elevated wildfire risk this summer due to h…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021