Empowering wellness: Graduate student brings health education to Zimbabwe community

Katarina Benson — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 17:45:40 +0000

Empowering wellness: Graduate student brings health education to Zimbabwe community Katarina Benson Mon, 04/07/2025 - 13:45

Shannon Smith, a graduate student in George Mason �鶹��’s Kinesiology Program, is pioneering a transformative health and wellness education initiative in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Smith’s six-month community wellness program consists of health and wellness education for a cohort of 20 women. Participants receive education on diet, exercise, and mental health to ultimately become “wellness ambassadors” for their sub-communities.

Shannon Smith. Photo provided

The idea for this program came after Smith visited friends in Victoria Falls, where she saw a banner for Pathways–Africa, a nonprofit organization with a mission “to empower and assist the people of Africa through the mutual development of sustainable resources for community planning, education and health services.” Smith connected with the organization director via email, and together they identified the community’s health education gap. “I offered to [host] a couple of workshops, and it turned into this pilot program we’re trying to build,” Smith said.

The pilot program began earlier this year, when Smith facilitated an in-person workshop as the foundation for the content in the program. The cohort meets once a month for five months to discuss how they’re using the information, making changes, and sharing what they’ve learned. “At the end of the program, they’ll be more informed, have healthier lives, and be seen as leaders in their communities when it comes to wellness.”

Smith’s experience in Victoria Falls has strong connections to her current studies in the Kinesiology Program in the College of Education and Human Development. Her programming directly ties to health promotion, the concept of exercise as medicine, and to previous collaborations with George Mason kinesiology professor Debra Stroiney.

Smith and members of the program. Photo provided

“I helped Dr. Stroiney with some ‘Exercise Is Medicine' activities last semester and am really looking forward to continuing to work in this space of exercise and food as medicine, whether it’s for an athletic or general population.”

Smith has advice for anyone who wants to serve in their community. “Do it! Locally, it may be easier to find an organization or resources to start a small project. You’ll be able to see a direct impact close to home, which is always nice.”

For those who are interested in serving abroad, she advised, “globally, there are more factors at play, but the reward can be much bigger if the country doesn’t have the same resources.” She said that flexibility is the key to overcoming cultural, language or resource barriers.

Overall, Smith encourages anyone interested in service to get involved: “There’s always something to learn, you’ll make good connections, impact lives, and you’ll have fun, too.”

Learn more about George Mason's Kinesiology Program

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College of Education and Human Development

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wellness

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Mason team works to address mental health among veterans

Colleen Rich — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 18:11:06 +0000

Mason team works to address mental health among veterans Colleen Rich Wed, 11/08/2023 - 13:11

A team of George Mason �鶹�� researchers is doing its part to combat rising suicide rates among veterans and hopes to soon begin making a positive difference in the Northern Virginia community.

Virginia Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Daniel Gade (right) presents a “challenge coin” to acknowledge the excellent work of Mason student José Coll. Photo provided

Keith Renshaw, a psychology professor and Mason’s associate provost for Undergraduate Education, is working with the Virginia Department of Veterans Services to oversee two projects that address suicide rates among combat veterans as part of the Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans and their Families.

Their work could prove especially critical in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area with a strong veteran population.

“I see [this work] as part of our mission,” Renshaw said. “As an institution in this region, we have to be plugged into the needs of the military population and responsive to the needs of that population to really realize our role as a community partner.”

More than four times as many veterans have died from suicide rather than in combat operations since 9/11, according to research released by Brown �鶹�� in 2021.

The first project, which began late last year, is called Virginia’s Identify SMVF (Service Members, Veterans and Families), Screen for Suicide Risk, Refer for Services (VISR) mission. A $44,000 grant from the commonwealth allows for the training of employees of various local community agencies in military culture, better suicide screening methods and knowledge of resources available for struggling veterans.

The aim of the national strategy run by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is to prevent suicide among service members, veterans and their families using a comprehensive public health approach.

“The whole idea is that some of these agencies involved might need certain things more than others,” Renshaw said. “Mental health centers have a lot in suicide training, but they may not have as much on military cultural competency. A veterans’ service organization understands the military, but might not have much knowledge about suicide.”

From left, Brandi Jancaitis of the Virginia Veteran and Family Support Program, Nicole Gore of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, Mason student José Coll, and principal investigator Keith Renshaw. Photo provided

The mission takes on an added personal significance for the two Mason students heavily involved in the project.

Alice Beatty, a senior psychology major, is serving as the project coordinator. A returning student and mother of three, Beatty is the wife of an Army veteran and the daughter-in-law of a Vietnam veteran.

“VISR brings together two components that I am passionate about—military families and suicide prevention,” Beatty said, “so this project holds a special place in my heart. What I like most about the VISR program is that the participating agencies are working together and prioritizing this mission. In essence, we are saying to our military, veterans and their families, ‘We see you, we hear you, and we are here to listen and support you.’ ”

Alice Beatty presents to the Suicide
Prevention Symposium at the Virginia War Memorial. Photo provided

José Coll, a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in graphic design, designed the logo for the VISR program. Like Beatty, he was drawn to the project for personal reasons.

“I’m an Air Force brat, and this program is about helping service members—active or retired—and their families with their mental health journey,” Coll said.

Renshaw, who is the principal investigator, said that he expects the program to be extended into the spring semester.

The second project, which comes through a $150,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Veterans Services’ Suicide Prevention and Opioid Addiction Services (SOS) Research Grant, seeks to address suicide prevention from a different angle.

Titled “Suicide and Substance Abuse Misuse Prevention for Veterans: Transdiagnostic Treatment Development and Pilot,” the project is being conducted in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, principal investigator Christianne Esposito-Smythers and her new Center for Evidence-Based Behavioral Health within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Esposito-Smythers is renowned for her work developing, testing, and disseminating treatments targeting risk factors in teens. Now, she and her team will adopt the same treatment for adult veterans with a focus on suicide risk, PTSD, and substance abuse.

“We’ll adapt this treatment program to be appropriate for adult veterans,” Renshaw said.

Mason alum Sarah Campbell, a former doctoral student of Renshaw’s who previously worked at a VA medical center, is helping to modify the program for adult veterans. The team plans to test the program through training with 50 clinicians throughout Northern Virginia in spring 2024, with hopes to soon after begin aiding those in the area in need.

Learn more about the Center for Evidence-Based Behavioral Health

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Veterans

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Strategic Direction

health-based outreach

Empowering wellness: Graduate student brings health education to Zimbabwe community

Learn more about George Mason's Kinesiology Program

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Mason team works to address mental health among veterans

Learn more about the Center for Evidence-Based Behavioral Health

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