MANKATO — When Carrie Manning was growing up, kids didn’t talk about their mental health challenges.
Today, youth feel more inclined to share about their experiences with anxiety, depression and other ailments, she said.
“I just wish it was provided more in the school,” she said. “We don’t have mental health providers in schools. You have to receive that outside of school.”
Manning is one of the keynote speakers during the annual Health Summit Wednesday at Minnesota State University. This year’s topic is “Rooted in Wellness: Advancing Rural Youth Health.”
Roy Kammer, interim dean with the College of Allied Health and Nursing, which is hosting the summit, said rural youth health is top of mind for community leaders.
“It just seemed like a topic of interest for us and our partners to address,” he said.
Challenges for rural youth include living in homes with loved ones who have a mental illness, food insecurity and access to safe child care, said Brooke Burk, event coordinator for the summit.
Kammer said inadequate numbers of rural health providers is another problem facing kids today.
“We just see the need to make sure there’s access,” he said. “The better we do as a community to be aware of potential health issues in general with adolescents, the better job people can do to get them referred and get them connected to the services they need.”
Manning’s morning keynote address is on “Cultivating Rural Youth Health Leaders,” which will be followed by a question-and-answer session. She lives and works in Montana, where she’s a Dakota Sioux enrolled member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes.
She started a youth council that consists of students from each of the four public schools on her reservation in 2017. She strives to make youth, families and communities strong, according to a bio on the MSU Health Summit website.
The afternoon keynote is by mother-daughter duo Michelle Sherman and DeAnne Sherman, who co-authored “Loving Someone with a Mental Illness or History of Trauma: Skills, Hope and Strength for Your Journey.”
The “Loving Someone with a Mental Illness” afternoon keynote by the Shermans will also be followed by a question-and-answer session.
Michelle Sherman is a clinical psychologist practicing in Roseville who treats many patients who live in rural communities throughout the country via tele-therapy.
“We know about one in four people lives with a mental illness and there can be such a ripple effect on everyone in the family,” she said. “Certainly partners, parents, siblings and children.”
The five books she’s written with her mom and their public speaking endeavors such as appearing at the Health Summit aim to raise awareness and to “empower people with resources to navigate the lonely and challenging experience of mental illness in the family,” she said.
As for their summit appearance, she said, “We really hope it’ll be informative and empowering and helping people know that they’re not alone and there’s lots of reasons to have hope.”
The Health Summit has been an annual event at MSU since 2018 and organizers expect to draw about 200 people this year.
“We’re trying to focus on different health topics that are relevant to students, professionals and the community,” Kammer said. “We hope to continue to do this for years to come.”
The summit runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday at the MSU Centennial Student Union.
In addition to the featured keynote addresses, the summit also will include a case-study simulation, poster presentations, sponsor visits and networking opportunities. It is $30 for the public to attend and free for MSU students, faculty and staff.
Details, a full schedule and registration information can be found on the Health Summit website at ahn.mnsu.edu/health-and-biomedical-sciences-summit.