KIP Newsblog

Upper Peninsula Community Health Town Hall Highlights Mental Health

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health conditions including anxiety and depression have increased approximately 25% according to the World Health Organization. In rural areas, like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, mental health needs for both kids and adults are often difficult to address due to a shortage of mental health practitioners and stigma around mental illness.

To help deliver health information and resources to Upper Peninsula community members, Michigan Tech University and Northern Michigan University have partnered to offer the Upper Peninsula Community Health Town Halls Series. Organized by the Health Research Institute and Center for Rural Health, the 60-minute virtual town halls are broadcasted live on Zoom, Facebook Live, and several radio stations including 97.7 The Wolf (WOLV-FM), 98.7 Rockn’ Eagle (WGLI-FM), 105.7 Eagle Country (WCUP-FM), and Q107 (WMQT-FM). The goal of the series is to increase awareness about community and preventative health issues and how they impact individuals, families, and the Upper Peninsula Region. 

For the most recent town hall, moderators Steven Elmer and Kelly Kamm from the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology at Michigan Tech were joined by several community experts who discussed a range mental health and wellbeing topics and answered questions from the community.

As described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 5 Americans will experience a mental health illness in a given year and more than 50% of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental health illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime. This serves as important wake-up call for the need to step up mental health services and support. Town Hall speaker Kristie Hechtman from Upper Peninsula Health Care Solutions described several collaborative programs to improve resources and access to mental health services for community members across the Upper Peninsula. Likewise, Greg Nyen, Superintendent of Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency, summarized the strategic efforts being done to integrate mental health navigation coordinators and advocates within the school systems.

Abigail Wyche, Head of the Social Work Department at Northern Michigan University, described the efforts to strengthen the mental health workforce through their recently added Master of Social Work degree program. Over the past two years, more than 40 students have graduated and many have gone on to provide therapeutic services in the Upper Peninsula. As special advisor for campus wellbeing, Wyche also discussed a campus commitment to enhancing wellbeing which is described as a holistic concept encompassing biological, psychological, social, ecological and spiritual dimensions of health. Meredith Raasio, an undergraduate student and peer health ambassador at the Michigan Tech Center for Student Mental Health and Well Being, offered suggestions for maintaining wellbeing over the holidays including engaging in physical activity, spending time outside, connecting with family and friends, taking breaks from work and schoolwork, and making time for volunteering.

Since starting the Upper Peninsula Community Health Town Hall Series in September of 2020, over 125 trusted experts across the region and state have participated in 28 Town Halls. All town halls are recorded, archived, and can be viewed on the Michigan Tech Health Research Institute website and YouTube Channel. Each town hall is also re-broadcasted the Sunday after each live broadcast on ABC 10 (WBUP) at 12pm ET.

The continuation of the Town Hall series is in response in part to the 2021 Upper Peninsula Community Health Needs Assessment Report which includes survey data from more than 3,500 Upper Peninsula residents relating to general health status, prevalence of chronic diseases, health behaviors like diet, physical activity, and alcohol, tobacco and drug use, and rates for accessing preventive care like checkups, dental visits, immunizations, and cancer screenings. This report serves as an important guide for developing strategies to address the health needs of people across the region.

The Upper Peninsula Community Health Town Hall Series has been made possible through support from several health organizations including U.P. Health System-Portage, Michigan Health Endowment Fund, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation.

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KIP Students Visit Local Schools to Promote Health Science and Public Health

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A team of Michigan Tech students visited local elementary, middle, and high school classrooms as part of state and national outreach efforts to increase awareness about health science and public health. Steven Elmer, Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology, organized the visits to coincide with the Michigan-Indiana Physiology Understanding Week and National Rural Health Day. Teams of undergraduate and graduate students engaged local students in hands-on activities focused on learning about how the human body works, healthy living behaviors, noninfectious and infectious diseases, and community health.

Kate Meister, a senior pre-health and human biology student, visited 4th grade students at Houghton Elementary School where she taught students about their own heartbeat. Students were led through an activity where they partnered up and crafted a do-it-yourself stethoscope from plastic funnels, balloons, and rubber tubing. The students were able to listen to their partner’s heartbeat through the stethoscope they created and learned more about the impact that exercise has on heart rate.

Kyle Wehmanen and Gwyn Hamlin, graduate students in kinesiology, used a slightly different approach involving the popular game Jenga to engage students at the local middle and high schools. That is, Wehmanen and Hamlin taught students about the importance of healthy living behaviors (physical activity, good nutrition, healthy body weight, not smoking) and impact of both noninfectious (heart disease, obesity, diabetes) and infectious (influenza, COVID-19) diseases on community health. By adding blocks that represented healthy living behaviors, the Jenga towers became stronger and were more resilient when blocks were removed that represented various diseases. Hamlin also talked about her journey from a Houghton High School student to Michigan Tech graduate student who will earn her degree in a few weeks to working in the Cardiac Rehabilitation unit at UP Health System Portage.

Felix Cottet-Puinel, a graduate student in kinesiology from Morzine, France, also assisted with the outreach activities and said that communicating health science and public health related concepts to different age ranges required creativity, presented some challenges, and was very rewarding. Several other students including Tyler Hampton, Isaac Wedig, and Noelle St. Pierre also participated in the outreach activities.

Together, the outreach team visited Houghton, Lake Linden, Dollar Bay, and Chassell schools and connected with over 225 students ranging from 4th to 12th grade. “These outreach events are critical to generating student interest in health science and public health focused careers as there is a major shortage of health professionals in rural areas like the Upper Peninsula”, explained Kelly Kamm, Portage Health Endowed Assistant Professor and Epidemiologist in the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology.

As society continues to build forward from the COVID-19 pandemic, health focused outreach with local schools is key to generating more interest in health, science, technology, engineering, and math (H-STEM). Looking ahead, Michigan Tech’s new H-STEM Engineering and Health Technologies Complex is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in early 2024. The new building will provide state-of-the-art teaching and research labs to advance learning, develop new technologies, and prepare a skilled workforce for tomorrow.

For more information about scheduling a health science and public health outreach visit to your classroom contact Tayler Haapapuro, Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology Academic Advisor and Outreach Coordinator via phone (906-487-3169) or email (tmhaapap@mtu.edu).

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H-STEM Construction Update: Topping Off Ceremony

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On November 22, 2022, Michigan Tech President Richard Koubek gave the signal for the last beam to be placed for the new H-STEM Engineering and Health Technologies Complex, which will be KIP’s new home.

Keeping with an age-old tradition in the United States, an American flag and a small evergreen were attached to the last beam, symbolizing good luck during construction and best wishes for the future building.

The H-STEM building will be the newest addition to Tech and will be a place for state-of-the-art teaching and research labs for health-related STEM studies. This building will provide a place for both students and faculty to collaborate and work towards creating innovations focused on improving human health and quality of life. 

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In the Spirit of #GivingTuesday and Beyond…

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The KIP Department would like to highlight some wonderful local, non-profit organizations in our efforts to support our community’s health and well-being. Through The Portage Health Foundation‘s partnerships, there are many ways to give back as the holiday season begins.

All donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar by PHF on #GivingTuesday. But in KIP’s ongoing mission to create a healthier community, we encourage year-round support of these organizations.

Please visit the Portage Health Foundation’s website for #GivingTuesday for more information and a complete list of its partnerships.

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December KIP Seminar

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Join us for the last seminar of the semester to close out the “Women in Health Science, Medicine, and Physiology” series.

Dr. Carrie Karvonen-Gutierrez and Dr. Erica Twardzik will be presenting their research and work. To learn more about the speakers, find their abstracts and biographies below.

Dr. Karvonen-Gutierrez’s Abstract: Among older adults (age 65+ years), declines in physical functioning, increases in disability and the relationship of falls with adverse outcomes including hospitalizations and death are well documented. However, evidence suggests that the mid-life period (40-64 years of age) is a critical window for the onset of poor physical functioning and falls, particularly in women. Women experience greater disability, more rapid declines in physical functioning, and more falls than do age-matched men. This presentation will overview the burden of physical functioning limitations, disability and falls among mid-life women and identify important correlates of these health outcomes. Key findings from the ongoing Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, a prospective, multi-ethnic study of midlife women will be included to demonstrate important differences in the burden of physical functioning by key demographic measures.

Dr. Twardzik’s Abstract: Older adults with disabilities are a growing demographic group. People with disabilities represent 26.8% of the general population, and the prevalence of disability increases with age. People with disabilities, compared to non-disabled peers, are less likely to engage in physical activity and social participation, key components of healthy aging. Observed disparities are driven by a multifactorial set of environmental barriers and facilitators. This presentation will describe socio-environmental drivers of mobility among older adults and people with disabilities. Examples from recent work empirically testing relationships between built environment and mobility will be used to illustrate how environments shape mobility among people with disabilities. Environmental modification is needed to achieve societal inclusion and optimize individual participation among those aging with and into disability.

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Free Falling: Dr. Carolyn Duncan to be featured on “Husky Bites”

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Dr. Carolyn Duncan
Assistant Professor, KIP
Sarah Aslani
PhD Student, CLS

On Monday, November 14th, at 6:00 pm KIP’s Dr. Carolyn Duncan will be the latest guest on Husky Bites, a free and interactive Zoom webinar hosted by Dean Janet Callahan of the College of Engineering. Also joining in will be Cognitive and Learning Sciences PhD student Sarah Aslani, who is a member of Dr. Duncan’s Balance and Functional Mobility Lab.

During the 30-minute webinar, they will explore balance and fall prevention and discuss Dr. Duncan’s ongoing research on both topics. “We need greater understanding of exactly what affects our ability to regain our balance when we lose it. Not all risk factors affect balance in the same way. There are many unanswered questions, and that’s where our research comes in,” she explains in an interview she did for the College of Engineering Blog that highlights its Husky Bites guests.

To read the complete interview with Dr. Duncan and Sarah, go to the COE Blog. To tune in for their Husky Bites event, registration is required but free. All of the details can be found on the Husky Bites website.

Students conducting research in Dr. Duncan’s Balance and Functional Mobility Lab
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From the Scientific Literature to the Field: KIP Graduate Students Present their Work at Two Recent Conferences

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Graduate students in the Advanced Exercise Physiology Course (KIP 5000) recently attended several conferences and presented class projects collaboratively built through the first part of the semester. The course taught by Dr. Steven Elmer in the Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology (KIP), tasked students with conducting a literature search to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on human health and society. In support of Exercise is Medicine on Campus Month, the student projects emphasized the important role that physical activity has in combating both chronic and infectious disease.

Midwest ACSM Conference

Master’s student Felix Cottet-Puinel and doctoral student Kyle Wehmanen attended the annual meeting for the Midwest Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine held in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 20-22, 2022. The mission and purpose of the conference was to promote scientific advancement, disseminate information regarding sports, physical activity, and medicine, and foster collaborative relationships between students, educators, scientists, and physicians across the region. Felix and Kyle presented their class work during the first poster session of the event with great success. Visitors were highly engaged with the poster’s topic spotlighting the problematic synergy between multiple long-standing health pandemics (non-communicable diseases) and the crisis of the emergent COVID-19 pandemic. Their work also laid out evidence based on the HL-PIVOT Model (Healthy Living for Pandemic Protection) for leveraging healthy living behaviors including physical activity to combat these multiple pandemics. They shared ways the KIP students and faculty are working to increase activity and health in our community. Our Michigan Tech attendees also enjoyed learning outside their direct areas of study. Dr. Andrew Jagim from the Mayo Clinic delivered a fantastic keynote on nutrition in athletes and how they are often not meeting their basic needs. Also during the trip, Felix, Kyle, and several other KIP graduate students visited Dr. John Durocher at Purdue University Northwest to foster collaborative relationships across institutions. At the end of the day, it was a fantastic experience. Felix said, “I learned a great deal, and had a ton of fun presenting. The only thing I would change is making the poster session twice as long!”

Felix Cottet-Puinel presenting at Midwest ASM
Felix Cottet-Puinel
master’s student
Kyle Wehmanen
PhD student

Global and Community Engagement Conference

Master’s students Tyler Hampton and Gwyn Hamlin presented at the D80 Conference here at Michigan Tech University on October 29, 2022. The theme of the interdisciplinary conference was “Re-energizing Our Communities Through Service.” These students expanded upon the work described above to deliver an oral presentation to a broad audience consisting of students, staff, faculty, and community members. A key component of the presentation was highlighting the community service that the KIP Department provides delivering live and recorded physical activity workouts through a free program called UP & Moving. Attendees were very interested in how the general public views “physical activity” as a means to go to the gym, while Tyler and Gwyn pointed out that this could be something as simple as walking the dog or shoveling snow during our long winters here in the Upper Peninsula. These students also had the opportunity to listen to the keynote speaker Dr. Kurt Paterson, who presented “Global Engagement, Problem-Solving, or Impact.” Dr. Paterson’s return to Michigan Tech was very welcomed as he participated in the first D80 Conference held here. This is especially true since he really got the audience thinking at the end of his presentation. After the conference Gwyn said, “I enjoyed the setting of the conference and I think it went well. We were able to answer questions at the end and provide additional information on the importance of being physically active during the pandemic and beyond.”

Gwyn Hamlin
master’s student
Tyler Hampton master’s student

Attending these conferences helped KIP graduate students gain valuable experience bridging the gap from classroom learning to a professional setting while sharing their ideas in a supportive environment. Moving forward, we plan to capture this momentum and include more graduate and undergraduate students in similar work. Finally, the graduate students would like to thank the KIP Department for their support, and specifically, Dr. Elmer for his guidance throughout the process.

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October KIP Seminar

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Join us Friday, October 14 (3:00-4:30pm), in ATDC 101 for our October KIP Seminar. The seminar will include a symposium focused on “Improving Community Health and Wellness” and continue to support our Promoting Women in Health Science, Medicine, and Physiology semester theme.


Symposium Speakers

  • Kelly Kamm, PhD – Portage Health Endowed Assistant Professor (Michigan Tech)
  • Jennifer Trilk, PhD – Associate Professor (University of South Carolina)
  • Nicole Keith, PhD – Associate Dean and Professor and Past-ACSM president (Indiana University)

Topics to be discussed

  • Community health needs in our rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan Region
  • Academic-clinical partnerships to improve the health of the community through physical activity as medicine
  • Physical activity programming, participation, and health outcomes while addressing health equity 
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KIP Contributes to American Physiological Society “I Spy Physiology” Blog

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Master’s student Isaac Lennox and Dr. Steve Elmer wrote a post for the American Physiological Society’s nationally circulated I Spy Physiology blog. The post, entitled “Why It’s Still Important to Stay Active to Reduce COVID-19 Severity,” was published on October 5, 2022.

KIP graduate students have authored COVID-19 physical activity posts for this blog targeted for the general public in 2020, 2021, and, now, 2022. 

To read the full blog post and to find previous posts from KIP’s graduate students and faculty, go to APS’s website for the I Spy Physiology blog.

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