WKU renames LifeSkills institution CAYA Advancing Research and Community Health Institute

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- Kentucky is facing a mental health crisis, according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness.

The new naming of an institute on Western Kentucky University’s campus has the initiative to help tackle that one student at a time in community health.

A new chapter of CAYA Collaborative Care has made its way to the WKU’s campus. The Western Kentucky University Board of Regents approved the naming of the CAYA Advancing Research and Community Health Institute. 

“We’ve had a long relationship with the university. Whether it’s through partnering with them with hiring our graduates or maybe being guest associates in their social work,” said Joe Dan Beavers, the president and CEO of CAYA Collaborative Care. 

 He said teaming up with the university is a win. The organization, formerly named LifeSkills, changed its name to CAYA, meaning ‘come as you are’, with the intent to make all feel welcomed.

“There we saw an opportunity to partner with a great resource we had in our backyard,” Beavers said.

The institute, which is located inside the college of health and human services, will act as a research center, support community health and expose students to hands-on experience.

In recent studies, Kentucky trends are higher in the national average in mental health issues according to the Kentucky Hospital Association, and ages 35 through 44 have the highest mental issue rate amongst other age groups.

“For students who might want to study in these fields it’ll give them a chance to see real world applications to what they’re studying,” he said.

Beavers said this helps prepare students to tackle the mental health crisis Kentucky faces in the future.

“We’re kind of bridging that gap between the academic and the professional world. That’s part of our goal,” he said.