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Community Wellness Initiative

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Students, Faculty Work Together in Labs

Students work alongside faculty in a lab structure. Each team of students is focused on developing sustainable solutions to systemic issues. Community partners have been instrumental in identifying areas of focus. Each team develops programming, conducts research and disseminates information across professions and communities.

Through our four labs — First Responder Wellness Lab, Resource Mapping Lab, Whole Family Wellness Lab and Recruitment and Retention Lab — students and faculty work with law enforcement, hospitals, public health boards, faith-based organizations and schools to address mental health and workforce issues in our region.

Interested in getting involved with the Community Wellness Initiative? Please contact Meredith Montgomery at mmontgomery2@udayton.edu to learn more about how we can partner.

First Responder Wellness Lab

The First Responder Wellness Lab is working to develop a comprehensive and tactical wellness model for first responders, including but not limited to: Police/Fire/EMS, emergency department staff, 9-1-1 dispatchers and disaster responders.

Through partnerships with emergency service agencies, we will conduct needs assessments, map the lifespan of a first responder's career and build cultural competency for those in helping professions, in an effort to meet the unique needs of this community.

Projects

Partnership with UD Police Department

University of Dayton Police Department initiated a partnership with the BHWET program to develop a wellness program to address the health and wellbeing of officers who serve the university's community.

Student participants lead monthly training sessions with UDPD officers focused on a specific area of wellness to enhance understanding and prioritize wellness.

Interested in becoming a community partner? Fill out the Community Partner Request Form >>
Resource Mapping Lab

The resource mapping lab is focused on developing an interactive map of resources in the region along with information to help practitioners navigate those resources.

The Practitioner's Pathway Podcast

Episode 1: Practitioner Roles and Working Together

Resources

Episode 2: Working With Children Affected by Substance Abuse

Resources

Episode 3: Ecotherapy

Resources
Recommended Reading

Episode 4: Disordered Eating (coming soon)

Episode 5: Navigating the Foster System (coming soon)

Episode 6: Traumatic Brain Injury (coming soon)

Resource Maps

Student participants have developed resource maps for mental health practitioners in schools, hospitals, private practice, and community mental health settings. Explore our maps for practitioners supporting individuals experiencing Homelessness, Intimate Partner Violence, or Traumatic Brain Injury, as well as those seeking Wellness or Education Resources for the whole family:
Whole Family Wellness Lab

The Whole Family Wellness Lab is focused on providing public education about health and wellbeing for the entire family, giving a voice to parents in our region and identifying areas for research, training and support.

Whole Family Wellness (WFW) is a holistic approach to understanding and achieving health and wellbeing for the entire family. The World Health Org (WHO) defines health as a "State of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." The National Wellness Institute defines health as "a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential."

Wellness for the entire family means each member is experiencing wellbeing and the family unit is healthy as a whole.

Projects
Public Education Campaign

The Public Education Campaign promotes educates, advocates, and guides communities on a holistic approach to wellness. We work with communities, businesses, and schools to implement measures to strengthen and maintain communities' understanding and development of holistic wellness. This approach encompasses all facets of life, including:

  • Emotional/Mental
  • Environmental
  • Financial
  • Intellectual
  • Occupational
  • Physical
  • Social
  • Spiritual

Parent Listening Sessions

The goal of these sessions is to provide an avenue to understanding and giving voice to the concerns and lived experiences of parents.

A parent listening session will either be in person at one of our sites or via Zoom consisting of two students and 7-8 parents. In the session, students will interview parents using our parent needs survey questions to get information on what resources parents are looking for.

Explore details about participating in a session.

Whole Family Wellness Resource Library
Recruitment and Retention Lab

The Recruitment and Retention Lab aims to develop interventions to attract adolescents into mental health professions and teach career exploration skills — and explore and understand the barriers and facilitators to job retention in mental health professions.

Career Fairs
Career Fairs

The Community Wellness Initiative offers engaging career fairs for middle and high schools to educate students about the various career fields in mental health and pathways to reach those careers. The activities are designed to be interactive, so student attendees gain valuable information and a hands-on learning experience.

Career fairs are hosted at your school, during the school day. If you would like to host a Mental Health Professions Career Fair, please contact Meredith Montgomery at mmontgomery2@udayton.edu.

Research
 
Job Retention Focus Groups

We are conducting research on the Barriers and Facilitators of job retention in mental health professions in the Southwest and Central regions of Ohio.

This qualitative study invites perspectives from all mental health professionals to answer the following research questions: What is keeping you in your job? What has made you leave your job?

This research has been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Contact School of Education and Health Sciences
300 College Park
Dayton, Ohio 45469 - 2969
937-229-3557
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