BHI BE BRAIN HEALTHY• BE BRAIN POWERFUL • BE BRAIN READY! ©

The BHI Be Brain Healthy • Be Brain Powerful • Be Brain Ready! © Movement

will educate and engage participants about the importance of brain health.

The BHI Be Brain Healthy • Be Brain Powerful • Be Brain Ready! © Movement is one component of BHI’s synergistic approach to building brain healthy communities. This movement translates scientific findings into concrete actions people can implement daily to stay brain healthy, brain powerful, and brain ready.

Through this multi-pronged public health approach to leveraging the power of individual, family, and community voices and actions, we can fundamentally change how we care for our brains, as well as the brain health of those we care for and care about.

Brain health impacts virtually every aspect of our lives, from physical health and functioning to emotional health and relationships with others, as well as how we perform in our professional and academic careers.

With research as the foundation of the BHI Be Brain Healthy • Be Brain Powerful • Be Brain Ready! © Movement, the BHI aims to:

— Promote and protect lifelong brain health and optimal individual, family, and community performance.

— Encourage and inspire behavior change that science shows us can help improve brain health and optimize brain performance across the lifespan.

— Elevate the subject of brain health to encourage conversations that are both action-oriented and meaningful.

  • Individuals and communities need to be empowered when it comes to making lifestyle changes that will impact their brain health and performance.

    Activities that are part of the BHI Be Brain Healthy • Be Brain Powerful • Be Brain Ready! © Movement and the campaign will educate, empower, engage, and elevate community members to take control of their brain health and increase brain health outcomes for all ages.

  • This campaign is crucial for everybody, particularly women, minorities, and youth.

    Women are the CEOs of family health, change agents in the communities, and twice as likely as men to develop many brain illnesses, including depression, anxiety, and Alzheimer’s. Women also make up two-thirds of brain illness caregivers.

  • This campaign also focuses on minorities who often experience poor brain health outcomes.

    Minority populations often experience poor brain health outcomes due to multiple factors, including inaccessibility to high-quality brain health care services, the cultural stigma surrounding brain health care, discrimination, and reduced access to information about brain health.

  • This campaign targets youth leaders in the community.

    Through the BHI Brain Health Scholar program, youth leaders in the community are also targeted by the campaign to prepare them for leading their own brain-healthy lifestyles and those of their peers, families, and the greater community. The BHI will launch the campaign and series of challenges with a group of youth and adults in the coming months. The participants will assist in designing future challenges to be launched.

Initial activities of the BHI Be Brain Healthy • Be Brain Powerful • Be Brain Ready! © Movement that are planned to unfold over the next 3 years include:

  • Enrichment (education, training, and resources) for individuals and the general public interested in personal development and self-care.

  • The Brain Health Matters! Lecture Series is a keynote series will host global thought leaders to present state-of-the-art information about protecting brain health, optimizing brain performance, and treating, reducing risk, and preventing brain illness.

  • The brain-healthy Eat SMART for Brain Health! Dinner Party Series are a fundraiser for the BHI Brain Health Scholar Program and the brain health programming within the Schools for Brain Health initiative. The dinners will feature a delectable multi-course dinner designed by BHI Faculty, Dr. Uma Naidoo, and Celebrity Chef Barton Seaver in collaboration with Brain Health Scholars, students from the Schools for Brain Health initiative, and various TBD region Executive Chefs. Attendees will receive a brain-healthy dinner party toolkit to inspire replication of the event at home with family, friends, and neighbors.

  • The BHI Brain Health Scholar Program is a highly competitive, nomination, and application-only program for young leaders. BHI Brain Health Scholars work primarily virtually with BHI clinicians and scientists to promote and protect brain health, fight brain illness, and optimize performance for all ages. Brain Health Scholars help carry out the engagement, impact, and research agenda of the BHI, raising brain health awareness, increasing brain health literacy, and assisting in the collection of data to better understand the brain health and well-being concerns, values, priorities, and attitudes of both youth and adults.

  • Teens for Brain Health are youth leaders who will be provided opportunities to become trained and earn a Youth Brain Health Community Educator certificate. As Brain Healthy Community Educators, these youth will become informed about the science of brain health protective and risk factors and equipped with tools to promote and protect brain health while preventing and fighting brain health throughout the community where they live, learn, work, and play. This process will provide a ripple effect supporting brain health and healthy lifestyles at the individual and community levels.

  • The BHI Brain Health Community Educator program will also be available to adult thought leaders and influencers across all sectors, focusing specifically on the priorities of the adult and aging population.

  • A community-wide (eventually nationwide and worldwide) signature event. The BHI Mindful Tri is a 5k experience with a unique twist focused on health and wellness. It is a fundraiser for the BHI Brain Health Scholar and Schools for Brain Health programs. Unlike a traditional triathlon, the BHI Mindful Tri will consist of a 5k run/walk, followed by yoga and meditation sessions.

  • Professional development programming for medical, fitness, educational, and youth development professionals.

  • Continuing education courses, as well as access to state-of-the-art, innovative brain health screening, programming, and intervention tools for licensed medical and health care professionals and paraprofessionals interested in expanding their competency and portfolio of services to support their clients/patients and the greater community’s brain health and performance across the lifespan.

  • Public awareness campaigns with community and industry partners will amplify the BHI Be Brain Healthy • Be Brain Powerful • Be Brain Ready! © Movement. Monthly series will focus on educating and informing the community about protecting their brain health by sharing evidence-based, informative, and entertaining science that has been translated to action for the community. These series will include compelling brain health stories of organizations, innovations, science, and everyday people.

BHI Be Brain Healthy: Be Brain Powerful!© Movement Outlook

Part of the BHI’s long-term vision is to guide policymakers, payers, and providers to champion initiatives and efforts that support brain health as a standard of care from before birth to the end of life, making brain health coverage standard and accessible to all.

Through the BHI Be Brain Healthy: Be Brain Powerful!© Movement, the BHI aims to partner with individuals and communities, academic institutions, and industry partners to bring awareness and action that protects brain health, promotes optimal brain performance, addresses brain health risk factors, fights brain illness, and drives real, sustainable change.

— ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This wellness program is created by Brain Health Initiative, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and is informed by faculty and advisor members who are subject matter experts.