Ohoud Alosais is a PhD student at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing (UK CON) with an expected graduation date of December 2022. Ohoud chose to come to UK because it is one of the top research universities in the US. She found that many UK CON faculty had funded research projects in which students are encouraged to participate. She chose UK so that she could gain research experience, learn from the faculty, and have guidance for her path in academia. The director of the UK CON Behavioral Health Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL) research team, Dr.
Sarret Seng received her BSN from the University of Kentucky College of Nursing (UK CON) in 2019. During her undergraduate career, she worked for the UK CON Behavioral Health Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL) research team and as a peer tutor for the Work Learning Program (WLP), an academic-practice partnership between UK CON, UK HealthCare, Eastern State Hospital, and BH WELL. Within and beyond this work, Sarret observed research projects of nursing faculty members who seemed like family.
Bassema Abu-Farsakh is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing with an expected graduation date of December 2022. Her research interests include Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), nicotine dependence, and depression.
Behavioral Health Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL) executive director and University of Kentucky College of Nursing professor Zim Okoli PhD, MPH, PMHNP-BC, APRN, NCTTP has been selected as president-elect for the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA).
Meet the art director for the BH WELL comics, David Bryan Blondell! He comes to us with many years of experience creating Fine Art action sports portraits for the NBA’s Orlando Magic and UK athletics, as well as providing illustrations, caricatures, computer graphics, and directing initiatives for several Orlando Ad Agencies. For many years, he further combined all these skill-sets with writing, editing and serving as Publisher for the PGA TOUR’s regional golf magazine in Central Florida.
Assistant Professor Lee Anne Walmsley, Ph.D., Eds, MSN, RN, a BH WELL team member and chair of the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Nursing’s Bringing Action Right Now to Mental Health and Wellness (BARN) council, supported the production of a dinner theatre promoting mental health needs of farmers. The pilot Farmer’s Dinner Theatre was a collaboration between BARN and the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Students from the Warren and Logan County school districts performed in the production hosted at the Logan County Extension office.
Behavioral Health Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL) honors the life of Dr. Peggy El-Mallakh, an inaugural BH WELL faculty member, who devoted her professional career to psychiatric-mental health nursing research and teaching.
Congratulations to Hunter McKenzie, BH WELL Project Assistant, for graduating with a BA in Architecture! Hunter began work with BH WELL his sophomore year and has continued with the team through graduation. He says he was drawn to work for BH WELL because of the great people and the opportunity to make a difference. As a project assistant, Hunter assisted with graphic design, web development, survey development and data collection.
Dorothy “Dotty” K. Berryman is the artist for BH WELL’s The Dimensions comic book series. She creates each page by hand from rough sketch to inking and coloring! Berryman says her niche has been art as long as she can remember. Art is her form of self-care-- the process of turning a visual in her mind into something readers can see and touch is therapeutic!
The American Lung Association featured BH WELL’s When Nicotine Attacks: Fight the Crave comic in their April 14, 2021 Freedom From Smoking Facilitator Newsletter. BH WELL provides resources for individuals living with mental and behavioral health challenges who want to quit smoking. The ALA newsletter reaches facilitators nationwide working to support people who want to quit smoking. Since most people know smoking is bad for one’s health, the Freedom From Smoking program focuses on how rather than why to quit.
KVC Kentucky exists to enrich and enhance the lives of children and families by providing medical and behavioral healthcare, social services, and education. They provide in-home, in-office, and online social service solutions and child welfare solutions. Behavioral Health Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL) and KVC Kentucky have partnered together for program evaluations, resource development and dissemination, and presentations.
Lella Still, Director of Social Work at Eastern State Hospital and social work doctoral student in Eastern State Hospital’s Work Learning Program was featured in The NewSocial Worker recently. Her article, titled “Step Away from the To-Do List and Bring Social Work Out of the Shadows,” notes the importance of advocating for the social work profession. Still discusses the outlook of the future of social work and the overlooked nature of the critical work and outcomes social work professionals accomplish daily.
The story focuses on the unveiling of BH WELL’s newest product, a comic book entitled WHEN NICOTINE ATTACKS: FIGHT THE CRAVE. It targets the behavioral health community as the focus is on anxiety and nicotine withdrawal. However, anyone wanting to quit tobacco products might find this useful.
Please join BH WELL in congratulating Zim Okoli PhD, MPH, MSN, RN, NCTTP for being appointed Executive Director of Mental and Behavioral Health for the UK College of Nursing. In this role, he will work to advance mental and behavioral health nursing education, practice and research. Dr. Okoli currently serves as Director of Tobacco Treatment Specialist and Evidence-Based Practice at Eastern State Hospital. In this new role, Dr.
Deans of nursing schools nationwide, both undergraduate and graduate, have teamed together to promote nursing student well-being, resilience, and suicide prevention. They are taking active steps to provide programs and resources encouraging sound mental health, physical health, lifestyle behaviors, and well-being.
BH WELL and Eastern State Hospital Team Up During COVID-19
University of Kentucky’s Behavioral Health Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL) research team is composed of health professionals who stepped up with Eastern State Hospital (ESH) partners in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to BH WELL’s current projects promoting evidence-based best practices in behavioral wellness, here is a spotlight on how the partnership pivoted to meet pandemic needs.
The Kentucky Inclusive Health Collaborative (KIHC) at the University of Kentucky’s Human Development Institute (HDI) exists to ignite positive change to address the significant health disparities for individuals with disabilities across the lifespan. Their team works to establish community partnerships and provide education on inclusive health strategies while providing resources and technical support. Efforts are focused on incorporating universal design to promote broad accessibility in physical spaces, programs, and services in a manner that operates for all people.
Zim Okoli PhD, MPH, MSN, RN, NCTTP, Behavioral Health Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL) Director, was awarded Outstanding Nurse Researcher of the Year from the Kentucky Nurses Association (KNA).
