Rooted & Rising focuses on understanding the needs and gaps of mental health services for people with developmental disabilities in Appalachian counties in Kentucky.
Rooted & Rising will enhance mental health services through training, community outreach, and partnerships. Its work will be guided by people with lived experience to ensure the voices of rural Kentuckians with developmental disabilities lead the work in making mental health supports and services easier to access.
Focus Groups
Rooted & Rising is hosting focus groups intended to gain insight from Appalachian Kentuckians with lived experience. A focus group is a small, mixed group of people brought together to gather opinions, insights, and feedback in a structured but open-ended discussion. We invite you to join us as a person with lived experience, family member, provider, or other community member to share your thoughts. We want to hear from you!
The information shared in the focus groups will be used to create a survey. The survey will be distributed across the region and the results will be used to identify ways Rooted & Rising can best help people with developmental disabilities get the mental health care they want and need.
Focus Groups
A focus group is a small, mixed group of people brought together to gather opinions, insights, and feedback in a structured but open-ended discussion. These are all online via Zoom.
Focus group dates:
- Wednesday, August 13, 2025 | 10:00 AM—11:30 AM EST – Providers
- Thursday, August 14, 2025 | 1:00 PM—2:30 PM EST – Family Members & Caregivers
- Tuesday, August 19, 2025 | 1:00 PM—2:30 PM EST – Providers
- Wednesday, August 20, 2025 | 10:00 AM—11:30 AM EST – Family Members & Caregivers
- Tuesday, August 26, 2025 | 1:00 PM—2:30 PM EST – People with Lived Experience
- Wednesday, August 27, 2025 | 10:00 AM—11:30 AM EST – Other Community Members
- Wednesday, September 3, 2025 | 10:00 AM—11:30 AM EST – People with Lived Experience
- Thursday, September 4, 2025 | 1:00 PM—2:30 PM EST – Other Community Members
Articles
Rooted & Rising: Supporting Mental Health in Rural Kentucky
Press Release
Mental wellness is an important part of living a healthy, meaningful life. Experiencing good mental health helps people handle stress, build healthy relationships, and care for themselves and others…
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, reach out to Kristen Dahl at kristen.dahl@uky.edu.
This project is made possible by a grant from the Kentucky Commonwealth Council on Developmental Disabilities (CCDD).