Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Access
    • Multimedia
    • Podcast
    • Collections
    • Past Issues
    • Articles by Subject
    • Articles by Type
    • Supplements
    • Plain Language Summaries
    • Calls for Papers
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Job Seekers
    • Media
  • About
    • Annals of Family Medicine
    • Editorial Staff & Boards
    • Sponsoring Organizations
    • Copyrights & Permissions
    • Announcements
  • Engage
    • Engage
    • e-Letters (Comments)
    • Subscribe
    • Podcast
    • E-mail Alerts
    • Journal Club
    • RSS
    • Annals Forum (Archive)
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
  • Careers

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
Annals of Family Medicine
  • My alerts
Annals of Family Medicine

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Access
    • Multimedia
    • Podcast
    • Collections
    • Past Issues
    • Articles by Subject
    • Articles by Type
    • Supplements
    • Plain Language Summaries
    • Calls for Papers
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Job Seekers
    • Media
  • About
    • Annals of Family Medicine
    • Editorial Staff & Boards
    • Sponsoring Organizations
    • Copyrights & Permissions
    • Announcements
  • Engage
    • Engage
    • e-Letters (Comments)
    • Subscribe
    • Podcast
    • E-mail Alerts
    • Journal Club
    • RSS
    • Annals Forum (Archive)
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Follow annalsfm on Twitter
  • Visit annalsfm on Facebook
Meeting ReportBehavioral, psychosocial, and mental illness

Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory to Improve Mental Health in Rural Communities: The Comet Program

Kristen Curcija, Christin Sutter, Linda Zittleman, John Westfall, Chris Frakes, Maranda Miller, Tamara Oser, Maret Felzien and Joseph Carrica
The Annals of Family Medicine January 2023, 21 (Supplement 1) 3995; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.21.s1.3995
Kristen Curcija
MPH
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Christin Sutter
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Linda Zittleman
MSPH
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
John Westfall
MD, MPH
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Chris Frakes
PhD, M.Div
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Maranda Miller
BA, CPSII
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Tamara Oser
MD
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Maret Felzien
MA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Joseph Carrica III
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Context: With increased depression, anxiety, and loneliness, communities need resources that support a culture of mental and emotional (M&E) well-being. Because other resources, such as Mental Health First Aid, require substantial time commitment and focus on intervening during crises and suicidality, rural community members developed COMET (Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory), a universal community-based training program, to move upstream to prevent M&E health crises. COMET Community Training (CT) teaches people how to initiate a supportive interaction for a potentially emotional conversation using the simple, seven-item COMET conversational guide. The COMET Train the Trainer (T4T) equips community members to serve as their own local CT trainers.

Objective: Describe training implementation and evaluation.

Study Design: Survey and field notes.

Setting: Rural communities.

Population Studied: COMET CT and T4T attendees.

Intervention/Instrument: Both trainings are 90-120 minutes. CT covers the local epidemiology of mental health, being “the other person”, instruction on COMET questions, role-play, and resources for follow-up. T4T includes program development and training tips. Trainees complete pre- and post-surveys.

Outcome Measures: For CTs, the number and location of trainings, participant demographics, assessment of training structure, and intentions to use. For T4T, outcomes also include relevance of materials and preparedness to conduct community member training.

Results: Fifteen people completed COMET T4T. Most (93%) T4T trainees identify as female. Mental health care (40%) and the agricultural industry (25%) were the most common professional categories. 80% agreed/strongly agreed they feel prepared to deliver the CT. More time to practice was a main strategy to improve the T4T. Over 300 people have attended 25 CTs. Of these, 76% reported they were likely to use the COMET questions to engage an acquaintance or co-worker after training compared to 48% before. 81% reported a 7 or higher on a scale of 1-10 for likelihood of using the COMET questions in the next 3 months.

Conclusions: COMET aims to prevent M&E health crisis, complement efforts in primary and behavioral health practice settings, and fill a public M&E health gap, particularly in rural communities. The COMET T4T and CT are accessible to diverse and hard-to-reach community members and are increasing in demand. Evaluation results offer useful modifications to strengthen the program.

  • © 2023 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
Previous
Back to top

In this issue

The Annals of Family Medicine: 21 (Supplement 1)
The Annals of Family Medicine: 21 (Supplement 1)
Vol. 21, Issue Supplement 1
1 Jan 2023
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Annals of Family Medicine.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory to Improve Mental Health in Rural Communities: The Comet Program
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Annals of Family Medicine
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Annals of Family Medicine web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
3 + 14 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory to Improve Mental Health in Rural Communities: The Comet Program
Kristen Curcija, Christin Sutter, Linda Zittleman, John Westfall, Chris Frakes, Maranda Miller, Tamara Oser, Maret Felzien, Joseph Carrica
The Annals of Family Medicine Jan 2023, 21 (Supplement 1) 3995; DOI: 10.1370/afm.21.s1.3995

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Get Permissions
Share
Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory to Improve Mental Health in Rural Communities: The Comet Program
Kristen Curcija, Christin Sutter, Linda Zittleman, John Westfall, Chris Frakes, Maranda Miller, Tamara Oser, Maret Felzien, Joseph Carrica
The Annals of Family Medicine Jan 2023, 21 (Supplement 1) 3995; DOI: 10.1370/afm.21.s1.3995
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Exploring the Relationship Between Racial Microaggressions and Substance Use, and Healthcare Interactions in Asian Americans
  • Interview Time as a Proxy for the Racism Experienced by Black and Latino Physicians in the US.
  • The role of visualization, previous help-seeking, and intentions to seek help from a PCP for depression:An outcome evaluation
Show more Behavioral, psychosocial, and mental illness

Similar Articles

Content

  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Early Access
  • Plain-Language Summaries
  • Multimedia
  • Podcast
  • Articles by Type
  • Articles by Subject
  • Supplements
  • Calls for Papers

Info for

  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • Job Seekers
  • Media

Engage

  • E-mail Alerts
  • e-Letters (Comments)
  • RSS
  • Journal Club
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Subscribe
  • Family Medicine Careers

About

  • About Us
  • Editorial Board & Staff
  • Sponsoring Organizations
  • Copyrights & Permissions
  • Contact Us
  • eLetter/Comments Policy

© 2025 Annals of Family Medicine