2024 Rural Poll Webinar - Well-being

Russell Shaffer Author

09/16/2024 Added

5 Plays

Description

Join us for a webinar discussion on the recent findings of the 2024 Rural Poll report on well-being in rural Nebraska. This insightful discussion will explore how rural Nebraskans are navigating challenges like inflation, labor shortages, housing costs, and declining farm income, as well as how these issues affect their mental health and overall satisfaction with life. We’ll also examine changes in well-being over the past 29 years and look at what this the report’s data means for the future of rural residents. Joining us will be experts in this field, Hannah Guenther and Beth Nacke, sharing their perspectives along with university faculty and staff, and Nebraska community members.

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[00:00:00.270]It's working. Okay, so welcome everybody
[00:00:02.340]to the 2024 Rural Poll webinar.
[00:00:07.350]We're really excited to have you all with us today.
[00:00:10.500]And I'm gonna start out
[00:00:11.610]by just telling you just a little bit about the Rural Poll.
[00:00:15.510]Nebraska has the longest running rural poll of any state.
[00:00:19.680]Years ago a lot of states participated in rural polls.
[00:00:24.090]They don't so much anymore,
[00:00:27.960]but ours has been continuous for since the 1980s.
[00:00:35.220]So we do a random sample of the rural areas.
[00:00:42.420]The sample includes 7,000 randomly selected rural households
[00:00:47.190]in 86 counties.
[00:00:49.230]We have a 17% response rate
[00:00:53.790]with a margin error of plus or minus 3%.
[00:00:57.750]And there's Russell, his power must've come on.
[00:01:04.170]So we use the Total Design Method for this survey.
[00:01:09.870]We do a pre-notification letter that requests participation
[00:01:14.280]and gives people a link to an online survey.
[00:01:17.100]Then we mail the questionnaire with the letters,
[00:01:21.210]asking people to fill it out for us.
[00:01:25.200]We send a reminder postcard,
[00:01:27.450]and for those who have not yet responded,
[00:01:29.400]we send one more out,
[00:01:31.020]and that gets us to 17% response rate.
[00:01:35.970]So what do we know about rural Nebraska?
[00:01:39.510]Well, since it's a small sample,
[00:01:41.640]what we do is kind of divide the state up
[00:01:44.580]into these regions,
[00:01:46.380]and then we aggregate the responses by region.
[00:01:50.760]So the green areas here are the ones we do not survey.
[00:01:56.820]So those are the metropolitan areas
[00:01:59.130]of Lincoln and Omaha.
[00:02:02.400]We do survey the metropolitan areas
[00:02:07.020]of around Grand Island and Sioux City.
[00:02:15.300]And then the rest of the state is classified as rural,
[00:02:18.150]and they're divided up into these five regions.
[00:02:24.600]So if you have any questions about any of this,
[00:02:26.970]you can put it in chat and my colleagues will monitor chat
[00:02:30.990]and we can answer as we go.
[00:02:33.810]So what did we learn this year?
[00:02:38.190]So one of the things we always ask people is,
[00:02:41.514]all things considered,
[00:02:43.020]do you think you're better or worse off
[00:02:45.330]than you were five years ago?
[00:02:47.520]And you can see that the responses is
[00:02:50.940]not what we always hope to see.
[00:02:53.700]This year, rural Nebraskans are more pessimistic
[00:02:56.640]about their current situation
[00:02:58.500]than they've been since the study began.
[00:03:00.690]So that's that red line right here.
[00:03:04.530]The proportion- Mary,
[00:03:06.270]your slides aren't progressing.
[00:03:09.450]So we're still on the first slide is what we see.
[00:03:16.680]I always have trouble with this computer
[00:03:18.747]and the slides so.
[00:03:26.330]So what do you see now?
[00:03:27.900]Now I see it.
[00:03:28.733]It says survey methodology.
[00:03:32.610]Okay.
[00:03:33.846]There's the regions. And. (indistinct)
[00:03:37.590]And here we are in trends in wellbeing.
[00:03:40.140]So as I mentioned,
[00:03:42.090]this is the most pessimistic since the survey began.
[00:03:47.010]And you can see that's the red line that goes up here.
[00:03:50.610]So five years ago it was 33%,
[00:03:55.426]and they were five years ago, it was 33%,
[00:04:02.220]up from 27% last year and 21% the year before.
[00:04:09.780]So you could see
[00:04:10.740]that we've been working on this pessimism for a while.
[00:04:16.530]This is the highest level of pessimism that we've seen,
[00:04:23.730]and it was matched by a sharp.
[00:04:27.510]This increase in pessimism was matched
[00:04:29.370]with a sharp decrease in optimism.
[00:04:31.710]This year, just over 1/3 of rural Nebraskans
[00:04:34.620]believe they're better off compared to five years ago,
[00:04:38.190]down from 48%.
[00:04:40.050]So this is, you think you'll be better off
[00:04:45.720]or worse off 10 years from now.
[00:04:47.670]So this is the question about the optimism about the future
[00:04:52.650]has declined in past years,
[00:04:54.990]and this year, rural Nebraskans' optimism about their future
[00:04:59.640]declined from last year.
[00:05:01.020]Just over 1/3 of rural Nebraskans
[00:05:05.250]believe they will better be better off 10 years from now.
[00:05:11.100]And this is a decrease from 39%, this number up here.
[00:05:16.560]And again, you can see this,
[00:05:18.390]from 2020, we just kind of have this downward slide.
[00:05:23.940]About the same actually goes up,
[00:05:26.310]but the worse off also goes up.
[00:05:32.550]So the proportion of respondents
[00:05:34.800]stating they'll be worse off 10 years from now
[00:05:36.900]is about the same it was last year, 26, 27,
[00:05:42.030]but the percentage of people being optimistic has gone down.
[00:05:49.050]And then the other piece of this
[00:05:50.940]is that feelings of powerlessness.
[00:05:54.150]So life has changed so much in the modern world
[00:05:57.030]that most people are powerless to control their own lives.
[00:06:01.380]So in the past years have also seen increase
[00:06:04.050]in feelings of powerless by rural Nebraskans.
[00:06:07.230]And again, at the highest level since the study began.
[00:06:10.800]So steady decline in proportions of either strongly disagree
[00:06:17.610]or disagree that people are powerless.
[00:06:21.240]So that's this red line going up
[00:06:24.780]to control their own lives.
[00:06:27.060]And undecided is going down and disagree is going down.
[00:06:39.660]So let me go back to the feelings of powerlessness
[00:06:42.930]for a minute and just mention that,
[00:06:57.660]that people with lower education levels
[00:07:00.180]are more likely to feel powerless.
[00:07:02.670]People with higher education are more likely
[00:07:05.220]to feel like they have power.
[00:07:09.150]Other groups that are most likely to agree
[00:07:11.760]that people are powerless to, excuse me,
[00:07:15.870]to control their own lives
[00:07:17.160]include persons living in or near communities
[00:07:20.430]with populations ranging from 500 to 900,
[00:07:24.780]persons with lower household incomes,
[00:07:27.420]persons who've never married,
[00:07:29.190]and persons with sales or office support occupation,
[00:07:33.360]and persons with food service or personal care occupations.
[00:07:39.720]So younger persons are more likely that older persons
[00:07:43.920]to feel they're powerless.
[00:07:45.930]So that's kind of something we would expect.
[00:07:51.240]But persons who were asked if they believe
[00:07:54.390]people are powerless to control their life,
[00:07:56.460]just 4 in 10 disagree with the statement.
[00:07:59.250]So there's some real differences across different age groups
[00:08:03.630]and occupation groups and those kind of things.
[00:08:06.450]So gonna go on to mental health
[00:08:11.580]and look at the mental health question,
[00:08:16.710]which is related to our optimism and our pessimism.
[00:08:27.060]And you can see that most rural Nebraskans
[00:08:30.360]describe their mental health or emotional wellbeing as good.
[00:08:34.740]51% are excellent.
[00:08:37.320]The youngest persons are at the age group least likely
[00:08:41.580]to rate their mental health.
[00:08:42.780]So that's this 19 to 29,
[00:08:45.480]45% rated their mental health as only fair or poor.
[00:08:54.450]And then what I think is really interesting is
[00:08:57.060]if you go down to this 40 to 49,
[00:09:00.390]you see that those who rate themselves as excellent
[00:09:06.240]went down quite a bit.
[00:09:08.370]And those that rated themselves as only good
[00:09:11.640]expanded quite a bit for that age group, 40 to 49.
[00:09:16.550]So there's some interesting dynamics here.
[00:09:21.120]8 in 10 persons age 30 or older
[00:09:28.380]rated their mental health either excellent or good
[00:09:31.290]compared to approximately, oh, excuse me,
[00:09:34.530]the ages between 19 and 29 rated their mental health
[00:09:38.220]as either excellent or good
[00:09:39.870]compared to approximately 8 in 10 persons age 30 or over.
[00:09:43.650]So almost half the young people rate their mental health
[00:09:48.300]as only fair.
[00:09:50.040]So that's a real challenge for us going forward.
[00:09:54.660]And kind of connected to that
[00:09:56.130]are the feelings of loneliness.
[00:09:58.440]So respondents were asked
[00:10:03.270]how often they experience various feelings of loneliness.
[00:10:07.200]And a slight majority say they hardly ever
[00:10:10.140]or never experienced feelings of loneliness.
[00:10:13.320]Just over half responded they hardly ever
[00:10:16.980]or never experienced the following:
[00:10:20.160]feel isolated from others, feel they lack companionship,
[00:10:24.390]and feel left out.
[00:10:26.070]So the frequency of experiencing these feelings
[00:10:29.490]are examined by community size.
[00:10:31.680]So we can look at some differences there.
[00:10:36.540]Persons with the lowest household incomes are more likely
[00:10:39.930]than persons with higher household incomes
[00:10:42.600]to say they often experience feelings
[00:10:45.540]that they lack companionship.
[00:10:47.970]Almost 2 in 10 persons with household incomes under 40,000
[00:10:55.770]often feel they lack companionship
[00:10:57.840]compared to less than 1 in 10 persons
[00:11:00.780]with household incomes 75,000 or more.
[00:11:05.160]So there's some real differences around income.
[00:11:11.070]When comparing married groups,
[00:11:13.020]married persons are the least likely to say
[00:11:16.230]they often feel they lack companionships.
[00:11:19.590]Persons living in or near the largest communities
[00:11:23.640]are more likely than persons
[00:11:25.354]living in or near smaller communities
[00:11:28.680]to say they often feel left out.
[00:11:30.870]So there's a definite rural advantage here
[00:11:33.420]to feeling like you are part of the community.
[00:11:38.845]Just under 2 in 10 persons living in or near communities
[00:11:42.990]with populations of 10,000 or more
[00:11:45.750]say they often feel left out
[00:11:47.340]compared to 5% of persons living in or near communities
[00:11:52.770]with populations under 500.
[00:11:56.850]Persons who have never married are the marital group
[00:12:00.240]most likely to say they often feel left out.
[00:12:03.180]Just over 1/4 of persons who've never married
[00:12:06.060]often feel left out
[00:12:07.410]compared to less than 1 in 10 who are married or widowed.
[00:12:12.390]The other groups most likely
[00:12:13.920]to say they often feel left out
[00:12:16.740]include persons with lowest incomes and youngest persons.
[00:12:21.810]And we know from the research we've done on young people
[00:12:25.560]that one of the challenges is
[00:12:28.200]they're not often asked to be part of community activities.
[00:12:31.950]So there are some interesting possibilities here.
[00:12:36.510]We have two guests today
[00:12:40.980]to talk a little bit about responses to this.
[00:12:45.540]And as we continue talking,
[00:12:47.400]what I would really like to invite you to do
[00:12:50.430]is to think about, excuse me,
[00:12:56.880]I'm still having trouble with these slides.
[00:13:00.570]Think about where have you seen examples
[00:13:04.380]of how communities or organizations
[00:13:06.384]have helped address the pessimism.
[00:13:10.170]Where do we see communities or organizations
[00:13:12.630]that encourage optimism and a belief in the future?
[00:13:16.740]Where do we see groups
[00:13:18.570]that help people overcome feeling left out
[00:13:22.433]or feeling lonely?
[00:13:23.970]So what are the solutions we can share with each other
[00:13:27.930]to address some of this pretty challenging data?
[00:13:31.710]So I'm going to let Beth Nacke
[00:13:36.075]and Hannah Gunther introduce themselves and respond to this,
[00:13:41.370]and then we'll see what we have in the chat
[00:13:44.400]and in the Q and A to follow up on.
[00:13:50.100]Awesome.
[00:13:51.420]So I'll just start by introducing myself,
[00:13:54.000]and then I'm gonna actually just pass it over to Beth,
[00:13:57.150]but my name is Hannah Gunther,
[00:13:58.770]and I am a rural health educator with Nebraska Extension.
[00:14:04.980]I am still getting a little used to saying That,
[00:14:08.430]because Beth and I just recently assumed
[00:14:11.609]these new positions.
[00:14:13.590]Prior to this, I was a county-based
[00:14:17.070]food, nutrition, and health educator
[00:14:19.020]serving Cuming, Stanton, and Colfax counties.
[00:14:27.030]And I am Beth Nacke.
[00:14:28.800]I am also a rural health educator with Nebraska Extension.
[00:14:33.090]Prior to this position,
[00:14:35.490]I was part of the food, nutrition, and health SNAP-Ed
[00:14:40.200]or the NEP team in Dodge County.
[00:14:43.320]And I served Dodge, Saunders,
[00:14:45.540]and Washington and Colfax counties.
[00:14:49.620]So we are just starting week two in this position.
[00:14:53.760]Hannah and I began September 1st officially,
[00:14:57.150]and truly we are are grateful to be part of this discussion,
[00:15:01.350]because I think this is a great opportunity
[00:15:02.790]for us to share a little bit of insight into our translation
[00:15:06.510]or our thoughts with this data
[00:15:09.570]through our specific lens of rural health.
[00:15:12.150]But it's also an opportunity for us
[00:15:14.160]to learn what's happening in communities across the state.
[00:15:18.090]So what I think it's really appropriate,
[00:15:20.171]also, I'd like to address that speaking of rural,
[00:15:22.680]I'm at Husker Harvest Days, which is rural,
[00:15:26.790]so I apologize if it gets too loud.
[00:15:28.740]Hannah, let me know, and I'll mute myself
[00:15:30.870]and let you take over.
[00:15:33.840]So when we're reviewing this data and looking through this,
[00:15:36.480]what we see is that, or what stood out the most
[00:15:39.240]is rural Nebraskans are more pessimistic
[00:15:40.950]about their current situation than they have been.
[00:15:47.800]The optimism about the future has declined
[00:15:50.700]over the past five years,
[00:15:52.650]and we've also seen an increase in the feeling
[00:15:54.780]of powerlessness by our rural Nebraskans.
[00:15:58.830]And so how are we going to address that?
[00:16:03.228](Show Presenter speaks faintly)
[00:16:05.700]We discussed how as health educators,
[00:16:08.850]how we can work with our partners in rural communities
[00:16:12.030]to help address these issues.
[00:16:13.710]So our focus is on health and wellbeing,
[00:16:16.260]and that encompasses all the factors
[00:16:18.690]that impact one's ability to achieve optimal health.
[00:16:22.050]So working with content areas,
[00:16:24.090]specialists in mental health, food systems,
[00:16:26.684]agricultural safety,
[00:16:28.590]and any of those other environmental factors
[00:16:31.120]are gonna help shape a multidisciplinary intervention
[00:16:35.130]so that we can help develop policies
[00:16:36.660]to create lasting positive impacts.
[00:16:38.760]We can work within. (indistinct) Here.
[00:16:41.727]Existing efforts
[00:16:43.290]that are happening to share that more broadly,
[00:16:47.700]make sure that people are aware
[00:16:49.618]of where they can go for resources.
[00:16:52.157](Show Presenter speaks faintly)
[00:16:53.460]And one of the thoughts that we had about this also is if,
[00:16:57.330]if our young population is feeling,
[00:17:00.919](Show Presenter speaks faintly)
[00:17:03.450]powerlessness regarding their own lives,
[00:17:07.440]how are we going to retain those young people?
[00:17:10.230]How are we going to keep them in the state?
[00:17:11.730]How are we going to keep our rural communities thriving
[00:17:16.620]if they're feeling that they have no power.
[00:17:21.390]And so there are programs that we have
[00:17:24.090]within Nebraska Extension
[00:17:25.770]that can help to address some of that right off the bat.
[00:17:29.760]We have some of those programs
[00:17:30.840]that we can bring into communities if they don't exist
[00:17:34.170]in that community currently,
[00:17:35.550]or help to integrate some of those programs
[00:17:38.280]into existing efforts.
[00:17:41.430]Some of the, just to give you a an example of that,
[00:17:44.310]Nebraska Extension Marathon Kids
[00:17:46.350]is a youth physical activity evidence-based program
[00:17:50.730]that we have as a statewide effort currently.
[00:17:53.310]And that isn't just about being physically active,
[00:17:56.610]and it's not just about the youth,
[00:17:57.960]because there's adult engagement pieces within that,
[00:18:01.710]how to help build connections.
[00:18:04.020]What does it mean for you to be thriving?
[00:18:06.300]So that's not just about your physical health,
[00:18:08.280]but also about your mental health.
[00:18:11.490]And so just that's an example
[00:18:14.310]of a curriculum that we're using
[00:18:15.810]that's helping to build those connections.
[00:18:17.580]So if you are feeling powerlessness or loss of community,
[00:18:24.557]this is one way that we can give
[00:18:26.430]some power back to individuals
[00:18:29.250]to be engaged in things happening within their communities.
[00:18:37.740]There's been a lot of pessimism.
[00:18:41.310]Getting up to. (indistinct)
[00:18:42.870]That exists
[00:18:43.703]and that has really come into the healthcare system as well.
[00:18:46.740]So there's a lot of distrust with the healthcare system
[00:18:50.550]and so that may be impacting someone's
[00:18:55.380]even willingness to seek out help when they need that.
[00:18:59.340]So we need to have a way to engage
[00:19:03.660]with the rural community
[00:19:05.880]because the lifestyles in rural areas
[00:19:09.821]are unique to each area.
[00:19:11.771](Show Presenter speaks faintly)
[00:19:13.410]So we wanna be cautious also about having blanket statements
[00:19:17.580]of this is how we reached rural Nebraskans,
[00:19:20.220]this is how we should approach them.
[00:19:21.810]'Cause every community is different
[00:19:23.010]and every individual is different.
[00:19:24.330]So we wanna make sure that our focus is
[00:19:26.550]on individual impact,
[00:19:30.840]but we also understand that it's not just
[00:19:32.880]at the individual level,
[00:19:33.930]but it's at the community level.
[00:19:36.210]Hannah, a presenter is starting behind me.
[00:19:37.980]I'm gonna mute myself.
[00:19:39.610](Show Presenter speaks indistinctly)
[00:19:44.910]Do you want me to take over the next one, Beth?
[00:19:47.820]Okay.
[00:19:49.170]And I love how Beth brought that up,
[00:19:52.929]and that's one conversation
[00:19:54.420]that we've had continually is just
[00:19:57.390]one community is different than another community.
[00:19:59.520]And so, again, trying to be
[00:20:01.920]really individualized in our approaches,
[00:20:05.610]especially with where this data is showing up,
[00:20:10.170]and just kind of recognizing, again,
[00:20:11.670]that every community is different.
[00:20:12.990]So we are excited to kind of lean on the audience
[00:20:15.690]a little bit after we touch on our last point.
[00:20:18.480]And one of the things that Beth and I,
[00:20:21.630]when we met and went over everything,
[00:20:23.220]and we kind of saw this information
[00:20:26.310]and read through everything that Mary presented,
[00:20:29.640]one of the things that we touched on too was
[00:20:32.070]just kind of reading between the lines of that information.
[00:20:35.070]And one of the things that we discussed is
[00:20:37.320]when we are feeling powerless, when we're feeling stressed,
[00:20:40.230]that is really when we kind of put ourselves aside
[00:20:43.680]in our self-care, personal health,
[00:20:47.121]just overall health and wellbeing
[00:20:48.750]can really get pushed to the back burner.
[00:20:50.580]And so one of the things that we talked about, Beth and I,
[00:20:54.030]is that we really see that as an opportunity
[00:20:56.326]to just make health accessible,
[00:21:01.116]and one thing too, that in no way are we saying
[00:21:03.960]that by exercise or sleep
[00:21:08.340]or healthy eating is going to mitigate loneliness
[00:21:12.510]and that feeling of powerlessness.
[00:21:13.980]But we do really believe that
[00:21:16.460]starting with the individual
[00:21:18.090]and kind of empowering them to make those choices
[00:21:22.620]to improve their overall health
[00:21:23.940]can improve their mental fortitude
[00:21:25.939]towards those feelings of pessimism
[00:21:28.410]and powerlessness as well.
[00:21:30.360]And one thing too that Beth and I talked about that,
[00:21:34.800]and it was really fun meeting with Mary and her team,
[00:21:37.425]and kind of, again, everyone's approach
[00:21:40.230]towards this information is so different,
[00:21:42.240]which I think is really cool.
[00:21:43.980]And one thing that we talked about
[00:21:45.720]and that we wanna kind of draw attention to with this group
[00:21:48.630]is that we recognize that our interpretations
[00:21:52.830]are very much at an individual level,
[00:21:55.080]and our background is food, nutrition, and health by trade.
[00:21:59.010]And, but we also recognize that we, again, as Beth said,
[00:22:05.820]we're new into this position
[00:22:06.930]and we really see this data also as an opportunity
[00:22:09.480]to learn from you guys
[00:22:11.250]at what's happening at that community-wide level.
[00:22:14.520]So I know that Mary put this in the chat.
[00:22:18.990]Hopefully everyone can see this.
[00:22:20.790]But this is where we'd kind of like
[00:22:22.080]to open it up, the discussion,
[00:22:24.900]and kind of hear from you guys,
[00:22:26.010]but Mary brings up a great point where she put the question,
[00:22:29.250]where have you seen communities or organizations
[00:22:31.740]help people with optimism and feeling left out?
[00:22:35.280]And so, Beth and I were so excited to be a part of this,
[00:22:37.950]not only to share our insight,
[00:22:38.980]but also to learn from you all in the audience
[00:22:42.960]about what is happening in these communities
[00:22:45.004]and kind of gather
[00:22:45.837]that community-level intervention approach as well.
[00:22:49.320]So I don't know if people just wanna
[00:22:50.888]kind of start populating the chat
[00:22:53.340]or we'd love to hear from you of
[00:22:55.620]just what's happening in your own individual communities
[00:22:58.020]as well.
[00:23:04.080]And we do have a comment from Cindy about
[00:23:07.890]following this data is a national trend
[00:23:10.530]of loneliness from Gallup.
[00:23:12.570]And she talks about leading learning and development efforts
[00:23:17.430]for IANR
[00:23:19.080]and implementing workshops on building habits of happiness,
[00:23:23.190]building workplace culture,
[00:23:24.458]and dealing with difficult people.
[00:23:26.760]It seems to be appreciated,
[00:23:28.290]always trying to come up with new content.
[00:23:30.480]So there's some internal workshops for UNL folks
[00:23:35.790]about where are we're seeing communities make a difference.
[00:23:44.035]And Hannah has a link up there
[00:23:45.750]to some Extension programming
[00:23:47.520]if people are interested in it.
[00:23:53.250]I'll just mention there are a couple of different groups
[00:23:58.050]that have been doing surveys of young people
[00:24:00.450]in rural Nebraska.
[00:24:02.617]Craig Schroeder's been working
[00:24:04.350]with Panhandle school districts recently,
[00:24:07.710]and the Nebraska Community Foundation
[00:24:09.960]also did a youth survey about a year ago.
[00:24:13.380]And both of 'em were pretty similar
[00:24:15.750]in that young people said
[00:24:17.362]they wanted to contribute to their community,
[00:24:21.630]and young people also said
[00:24:26.160]that they've never been asked to contribute
[00:24:28.650]to their community.
[00:24:30.840]So I think one place where we can all kind of step up
[00:24:35.550]to the plate a little bit is
[00:24:37.890]to think of the young people in our communities
[00:24:44.040]not so much as kids we have to help
[00:24:47.040]but kids who can help us get things done.
[00:24:50.070]So kind of turning that table a little bit and saying,
[00:24:54.367]"They have a lot of skills and have a lot of energy
[00:24:57.123]that they can help with community events."
[00:25:01.890]And Casey's telling us that Nebraska Community Foundation's
[00:25:05.760]getting ready to kick off another statewide survey.
[00:25:08.880]So we'll look forward to seeing the results of that.
[00:25:13.710]Hopefully, we'll start seeing more and more young people
[00:25:16.560]say, "Yes, I've been asked and yes, I do participate," so.
[00:25:26.372]I'm not seeing any other questions in the question.
[00:25:32.850]There was one comment in the question and answer
[00:25:36.510]about thinking about the negativity
[00:25:40.350]and the current way people look at news and politics
[00:25:45.780]and the negativity.
[00:25:47.430]And I think we've been seeing more and more information
[00:25:50.190]about social media and algorithms
[00:25:53.508]that are really good at lifting up the negative,
[00:25:57.182]and sometimes we wish they'd be better
[00:26:00.000]at lifting up the positive.
[00:26:09.300]And we have a comment in the chat.
[00:26:14.970]Faith Mills says, "I don't have an answer,
[00:26:17.250]but I have an additional question:
[00:26:19.230]who can help us understand the root causes?
[00:26:21.780]I think we need to know those
[00:26:23.760]in order to move forward in a meaningful way."
[00:26:27.960]So I mean, I think there are some people at UNL
[00:26:30.630]that would be interested in trying to answer that question.
[00:26:34.230]So it's something we can think about
[00:26:39.150]when we talk to the other researchers,
[00:26:42.000]but part of that answer really lies
[00:26:44.363]in the communities themselves.
[00:26:48.300]When we look at communities where there's more pessimism
[00:26:52.110]compared to communities where there's more optimism,
[00:26:55.500]what are the differences in what's going on
[00:26:58.080]in those communities
[00:27:01.290]and how do we learn from each other
[00:27:04.037]how to do more and better?
[00:27:10.410]And then there's also, Hannah is saying,
[00:27:14.827]"I would suggest that they think about their own hobbies
[00:27:17.760]and see how they can apply that."
[00:27:19.980]I've seen our art center take off with some initiatives
[00:27:24.180]and seeing kids and adults involved in creative initiatives
[00:27:32.340]and seeing kids involved in a creative way
[00:27:34.740]spurs some feelings of belonging.
[00:27:37.020]So if you're a kid that is real interested
[00:27:41.010]in the creative arts
[00:27:42.060]and you live in a community where everything is sports,
[00:27:45.900]finding someplace to feel like you belong
[00:27:47.850]could be important.
[00:27:50.910]Hannah or Beth, any comments?
[00:27:54.840]I couldn't help but think I have a program
[00:27:57.960]that I have taught a couple times
[00:27:59.400]all about stress mitigation
[00:28:01.290]and just constructive ways to handle stress in your life.
[00:28:05.550]And one of 'em is getting creative.
[00:28:07.800]And he and I think that brings up such a great point
[00:28:10.890]and a lot of people think
[00:28:11.723]you have to be crafty in order to be creative,
[00:28:14.056]but cooking or even doing a crossword puzzle,
[00:28:19.770]or playing Scrabble,
[00:28:21.030]all of those kind of access
[00:28:22.375]that creative side of your brain.
[00:28:24.330]And I couldn't help but think
[00:28:25.860]in our own community at West Point,
[00:28:28.710]we actually have an individual
[00:28:30.330]who makes beautiful flower arrangements,
[00:28:32.940]and she has a beautiful cut flower garden,
[00:28:35.700]and she has now offered up classes,
[00:28:38.910]and just for anyone who wants to come,
[00:28:41.100]and she just teaches people, they use their hands,
[00:28:43.860]and they make bouquets.
[00:28:46.710]And I think that's such a great example
[00:28:48.450]of like she took a hobby,
[00:28:50.340]and now she's using it as a connector
[00:28:52.830]with individuals in our community.
[00:28:55.350]And I mean, it's open to anyone.
[00:28:56.520]So I mean, you never really know
[00:28:57.630]who's gonna be there either.
[00:28:59.040]And I've even thought to myself
[00:29:00.240]I should participate in that.
[00:29:01.380]So I think that's a great point,
[00:29:03.210]and I love how you kind of put it on
[00:29:05.160]connecting with your hobbies as well.
[00:29:06.720]I think that was a great point.
[00:29:10.620]I think something that I was thinking about, Mary,
[00:29:12.180]while you were talking about the data, also is
[00:29:14.430]that difference between socioeconomic status
[00:29:21.120]of that feeling, that,
[00:29:22.620]so when we think about what are things that we can do
[00:29:26.670]to improve that, I do also question that.
[00:29:30.273](indistinct) Thank you.
[00:29:31.920]Why, why do you feel out of control of those things?
[00:29:36.240]What are the reasons,
[00:29:37.260]what are the things that are, at an individual level,
[00:29:40.410]what are those things that are impacting you?
[00:29:42.810]Because if you are someone with a low socioeconomic status,
[00:29:47.849]what do you have as far as leisure time, if any.
[00:29:51.570]So some of those things are also impacting
[00:29:53.078]your quality of life.
[00:29:55.080]And so saying we should do these things or find your hobby,
[00:29:59.280]it can be really challenging for someone who says,
[00:30:01.207]"I don't have any hobbies because I work
[00:30:03.090]and I take care of my kids and then I sleep."
[00:30:06.210]So we need to also meet with those individuals
[00:30:08.550]and find out how can we help them to find something
[00:30:12.300]be creative within that space, right, Hannah, like,
[00:30:15.720]what is it that helps you to take a moment
[00:30:18.270]to feel recharged.
[00:30:19.380]Because it doesn't have to be something that costs money
[00:30:22.050]or takes a significant amount of time,
[00:30:23.820]just some time to really recenter
[00:30:26.190]and focus on yourself for a moment
[00:30:29.880]that can really help to change some things.
[00:30:32.190]And also feeling like you're not a part of the community
[00:30:35.730]or feeling disconnected to the community is an issue
[00:30:41.152]that I hear quite a bit from participants
[00:30:45.330]in my areas in Dodge County.
[00:30:48.510]And some of that's driven by the economic status,
[00:30:54.150]but also cultural and language barriers also.
[00:30:57.810]So what are we doing within our community to make sure
[00:31:00.060]that everybody feels like they're a part of the community,
[00:31:01.944]that everybody's voice matters.
[00:31:06.240]And I think that's especially important
[00:31:07.950]when we're working with our youth,
[00:31:10.200]because it's very easy to dismiss a young person,
[00:31:12.937]"You're too young to know," but everybody has an experience,
[00:31:16.431]everybody has input.
[00:31:17.940]And so to shift that or to halt
[00:31:22.042]that kind of language when we hear it,
[00:31:24.330]well, actually, we do wanna hear from our youth
[00:31:26.430]because they're the experts of their life, right?
[00:31:30.120]It's their life, so they know themselves best,
[00:31:31.945]and so we should be hearing from what they have to say,
[00:31:34.230]and it's shifting that narrative also or shutting it down
[00:31:37.500]when we hear that they're too young to know.
[00:31:40.433](Show Presenter speaks indistinctly)
[00:31:42.682]And we have a comment from Jordan,
[00:31:44.827]"I'm attending this as an employee
[00:31:46.620]of the State Historical Society and trying to,"
[00:31:49.920]at least I think it's Jordan,
[00:31:51.060]I can only see part of your name,
[00:31:52.470]so I apologize if that's wrong.
[00:31:54.907]"To understand how museums, archives,
[00:31:57.270]and historical societies can help improve the livelihoods
[00:32:00.342]of rural Nebraskans.
[00:32:02.430]It is through collecting their stories
[00:32:04.560]to make sure they feel seen and heard,
[00:32:06.780]creating more programming to engage with rural audiences.
[00:32:10.410]I'm not sure what the answer is,
[00:32:12.180]but it's interesting to see this data
[00:32:13.950]and think about where we might fit in
[00:32:16.320]in the lives of rural Nebraskans."
[00:32:18.180]And so if folks have an example of
[00:32:21.210]how a local historical societies created some opportunities
[00:32:25.800]for people to get engaged in their community,
[00:32:27.960]that would be great to share too.
[00:32:31.350]I know we were doing a project in Niobrara recently
[00:32:34.830]around having some young people
[00:32:38.580]create short videos where people talked about the flood
[00:32:43.110]and what they think helped the community survive the flood.
[00:32:46.770]And lots of people are interested in looking at those
[00:32:49.800]and something for them to talk about and a way to share.
[00:32:55.800]Some other comments?
[00:33:00.412]Hannah or Jordan, other comments in the chat?
[00:33:13.530]So I am gonna put the link
[00:33:14.828]to the Rural Poll site in the chat.
[00:33:19.110]If anybody is interested, you can go there,
[00:33:22.710]and you can click on the 2024 reports,
[00:33:26.190]and you can see the reports that are done so far
[00:33:29.490]and the ones that are coming out.
[00:33:31.380]And then for each of the six reports
[00:33:34.618]we'll be releasing in this fall, we'll do a webinar,
[00:33:39.240]so you can sign up for the others.
[00:33:41.430]The next one will be on civil discourse.
[00:33:44.280]We have one on trade policy.
[00:33:47.220]We have one on artificial intelligence.
[00:33:50.580]What do rural Nebraskans
[00:33:51.938]think about artificial intelligence?
[00:33:55.470]And we have one on community and I think there's one other.
[00:33:59.100]So we invite you to look at our reports
[00:34:06.853]and sign up for our webinars.
[00:34:09.330]And if you would like someone from the Rural Poll
[00:34:13.350]to come and visit with your organization
[00:34:15.870]to talk about some of the issues
[00:34:17.992]that the Rural Poll has found
[00:34:21.510]are important to rural Nebraskans, just let us know.
[00:34:25.170]Hannah or Beth, any comments you wanna make
[00:34:28.710]before we close the session?
[00:34:33.750]I would just direct it back to the resources
[00:34:35.973]that we had shared on the slides.
[00:34:37.680]Mary, you're sharing the slides out or just.
[00:34:40.530]Yeah, we can.
[00:34:43.830]And then to reach out to us if you have questions
[00:34:46.470]or you have ideas of ways that we can come and help
[00:34:51.270]to address some of these issues
[00:34:53.010]that were brought up through this poll.
[00:34:55.320]Reach out to Hannah and I,
[00:34:56.490]and we'd love to have some conversations
[00:34:58.440]about what you're doing
[00:34:59.273]or what you are interested in bringing
[00:35:01.830]into your communities.
[00:35:03.870]Ditto, everything that Beth's just said,
[00:35:06.210]and thanks for letting us be a part of it.
[00:35:08.250]We were looking forward to this as an opportunity just again
[00:35:10.980]to reintroduce ourselves and share a little insight.
[00:35:13.740]So this was awesome. Thanks for having us
[00:35:18.240]And thank you all for attending,
[00:35:19.832]and we'll look forward to seeing you at the next one.

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2024 Rural Poll Webinar - Well-being

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