Conference Connects Behavioral Health Professionals in Rural Areas of the State
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BHECN hosted the 1
st Annual Rural Provider Support Network Conference on May 18
th in Scottsbluff, Neb. Behavioral health professionals throughout the Nebraska Panhandle gathered together for opportunities to network and develop support systems for practicing behavioral health in their areas.
In the state of Nebraska, 88 out of 93 counties are designated as mental health professions shortage areas. Rural and isolated areas such as the panhandle in particular face this issue. “Rural areas of our state continue to be very under-served regarding mental health providers,” Catherine Jones-Hazledine, Ph.D., one of the leaders of the conference, said. “The support network is designed to help address some of these needs and hopefully improve retention of providers.”
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High School Alliance Stigma Projects Add Implementation
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Alliance members Lindsey Roberg, Emily Kokesh and Haile Bartlett created an illustrated children’s book called “Melvin the Monkey” about a young monkey suffering from bullying due to his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The book was just one of the ways the UNMC High School Alliance students in the Intro to Behavioral Health course presented their stigma projects.
This year is the second year of the Intro to Behavioral Health course. Last year, one of the stigma projects, the Messenger Bird, went on to be developed into a full-fledged campaign. The origami birds were distributed to various schools across the state of Nebraska.
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Meet Barbara Vogel, A.A.S., B.S.
This month's BHECN spotlight is Barbara Vogel, Regional Administrator at Region 1 Behavioral Health Authority. Vogel had years of experience working in business management when her passion for helping people led her to work in the behavioral health field.
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BHECN is accepting applications for the 2nd Annual Ambassador Career Engagement Awards, aimed at increasing awareness of behavioral health professions across the state.
BHECN will make funds available for community groups to introduce local youth to behavioral health professions through experiences within their communities.
Click here to see the 2017 recipients.
Priority will be given to programs that reach students in rural and/or urban, underserved communities.
The deadline to apply is June 1 and funds must be used for programs offered between July 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019.
Click here to learn more about the application process and download the Request for Proposal.
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BHECN recently wrapped up a series of webinars as part of the "Core Topics for Behavioral Health Providers". The following recorded webinars are available to view at any time:
- Incorporating Sexuality & Gender Concepts into Mental Health Practice (4 parts)
- How to Apply Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention
- The Schizophrenia Spectrum: Science and Practice
- Forensic Issues and Civil Commitment
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Wednesday, September 12, 2018
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Plan to join us at Scott Conference Center in Omaha, Neb. on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 for a full day of behavioral and mental health education and inspiration.
Watch future BHECN newsletters for more information!
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Searching for behavioral health employees?
Don’t forget about this FREE Nebraska resource to post your behavioral health jobs, as often as you wish!
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National Council for Behavioral Health hosted the Behavioral Health Prescriber Summit
Dr. Howard Liu and Angela Beck (Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center) co-chaired a workforce summit/workshop titled "The 21st Century Psychiatric Nurse: Essential Roles from Integrated Care to Medication-Assisted Treatment" on April 24 at the National Council Conference (NatCon18) in Washington D.C.
Each year approximately 5,000 leaders gather in Washington, DC to meet representatives on Capitol Hill and explore innovations in practice improvement, financing, integrated healthcare, technology, policy, advocacy and professional development. The focus of the summit NatCon18 was on psychiatric prescribers.
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The Nebraska Association of Behavioral Health Organizations (NABHO) was presented with a check from BHECN on Friday, April 20.
Members of the NABHO organization were instrumental in helping BHECN fine-tune the website
NebraskaBehavioralHealthJobs.com for behavioral health workforce development,
NABHO member organizations participated as a control group and kept track of the jobs they posted on the site and the number of interviews and new hires they gained during the study. All of the information will be used to improve the website's functionality.
Left to right: CJ Johnson, regional administrator, Region V Systems, Brent Khan, Ph.D., BHECN co-director, Chase Francl, NABHO president-elect, Annette Dubas, NABHO executive director
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The Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN), pronounced “beacon”, was established in 2009 by a legislative bill to address the shortage of behavioral health professionals in rural and underserved areas of the state. It is a unique partnership among the state legislature, academic institutions, and community partners
to create a statewide workforce solution to increase the number of licensed behavioral health professionals.
View our video to learn more about our mission, programs and initiatives.
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