Q&A with Kayla Hamstra MSN, RN, CPNP-PC, PMHS, Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Student
At Family Health Clinic, we believe understanding the unique challenges faced by our rural communities is an important part of providing meaningful, accessible care. In this Q&A, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Kayla Hamstra shares more about her Doctor of Nursing Practice research project, “Cultivating Resilience: Understanding Mental Health Among Indiana Agricultural Youth.”
Kayla discusses what inspired her to explore mental health among agricultural youth, why this topic matters, and what she hopes her research will accomplish for young people and families in Indiana’s agricultural communities.
Q: Tell us a little about your DNP project.
My Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project at Purdue University focuses on the mental health and well-being of youth growing up in Indiana’s agricultural communities. The project, Understanding Mental Health Among Indiana Agricultural Youth: The Role of Family Cohesion, Risk Factors, and Protective Factors, is a statewide needs assessment designed to better understand the experiences of young people ages 10–19 who are connected to farming, ranching, or agriculture.
Rather than focusing only on mental health concerns, I am also interested in what helps agricultural youth thrive. Through a survey of parents and guardians, the project examines both risk factors that may contribute to mental health challenges and protective factors that may strengthen resilience and well-being.
Q: What inspired you to focus on agricultural youth?
I have spent much of my nursing career caring for children and families in rural Indiana. As a pediatric nurse practitioner and Pediatric Primary Care Mental Health Specialist, I regularly see how a child’s mental health is influenced by much more than what happens during a clinic visit.
Rural and agricultural families have tremendous strengths, including strong family relationships, community connections, work ethic, responsibility, and resilience. At the same time, agricultural life can bring unique pressures. Farm families may experience financial uncertainty, long and unpredictable work hours, weather-related stress, injuries, geographic isolation, and limited access to mental health services.
Youth are part of these families and communities, yet their experiences are not always represented in conversations about agricultural mental health. I wanted my DNP project to help change that.
Q: Why is this research important?
Adolescent mental health continues to be an important public health concern. National data show substantial numbers of young people report persistent sadness or hopelessness and other mental health concerns. At the same time, research consistently shows that strong connections with family, school, trusted adults, and the community can protect youth mental health. For agricultural youth, we need to better understand how these broader findings translate into the realities of farm and rural life.
There is also a practical reason for doing this work. Rural communities often have fewer pediatric mental health resources, and families may travel significant distances for specialized services. Identifying factors that increase risk, as well as strengths that already exist within families and communities, can help us think beyond simply referring every child to a mental health specialist.
The goal is to identify opportunities for prevention and early intervention where children already live, learn, receive healthcare, and participate in their communities.
Q: What do you mean by “risk and protective factors”?
Risk factors are experiences or circumstances that may increase the likelihood of poor mental health outcomes. These could include high levels of stress, family or financial strain, social isolation, difficulty accessing services, or other challenges.
Protective factors work in the opposite direction. They are strengths or supports that may help young people cope with stress and adversity. Examples can include supportive family relationships, having a trusted adult, feeling connected at school, positive friendships, healthy coping skills, and a sense of belonging.
Importantly, my project is not based on the assumption that growing up in agriculture is itself a risk factor. Agriculture can provide young people with meaningful responsibilities, strong family and community ties, a sense of identity, and opportunities to develop confidence and resilience. I want to understand both sides of that story.
Q: Why does your project focus specifically on family cohesion?
Family relationships can play an incredibly important role during adolescence. Family cohesion generally refers to the emotional connection, support, and sense of togetherness within a family. In agricultural households, family and work life can also be closely intertwined. The farm may be a home, workplace, family business, and way of life all at once.
Understanding how family connection relates to youth mental health may help identify strengths that can be reinforced through future education, prevention programs, healthcare interventions, and community resources. National research supports the importance of family and school connectedness as protective factors for adolescent mental health, making this an especially meaningful area to explore within agricultural families.
Q: How are you gathering information?
Parents and legal guardians of Indiana agricultural youth ages 10–19 are being invited to complete an online survey. The survey asks about family experiences, agricultural involvement, stressors, mental health concerns, protective factors, access to resources, and family relationships. Parents provide their perspective on their child or children rather than youth completing the survey themselves. The goal is to gather responses from agricultural families across Indiana so that the findings reflect the experiences of communities throughout the state.
Q: What do you hope comes from the project?
Ultimately, I want the findings to lead to something useful.
Research is important, but the larger goal is to translate what we learn into practical strategies for the people who interact with agricultural youth every day including healthcare providers, parents, schools, Extension agents, agricultural organizations, community leaders, and mental health professionals.
Depending on what families tell us, the findings could help guide future efforts related to mental health education, early screening, prevention programs, referral resources, family support, or community-based interventions. I am especially interested in approaches that are realistic for rural communities. A solution is only valuable if families can access it and use it.
Q: How does this project connect to your work in the clinic?
As a pediatric nurse practitioner, I have the opportunity to care for children over many years and often get to know entire families. Primary care is one of the places where mental health concerns can be recognized early, sometimes before a child or family would ever seek specialty mental health care.
This project has reinforced my belief that pediatric healthcare should include conversations not only about symptoms and diagnoses, but also about a child’s family, school, community, stressors, and strengths. For rural providers in particular, understanding the context in which our patients live is essential. Asking the right questions and recognizing protective factors may be just as important as identifying risk.
Q: What do you hope people remember about agricultural youth mental health?
I hope people remember that supporting mental health does not begin only when a young person is in crisis. It begins much earlier with connection, supportive relationships, trusted adults, healthy coping skills, accessible healthcare, strong families, supportive schools, and communities where young people know they belong. Agricultural communities already possess many of these strengths. By listening to families and learning more about both their challenges and their resilience, we have an opportunity to build on what is already working while addressing the areas where additional support is needed
Stronger families. Stronger farms. Stronger futures.
