Each month, the Research Council Steering Committee features an APNA member. This month, we are featuring Dr. Kayla Herbell!
Link to OSU website: https://nursing.osu.edu/faculty-and-staff/kayla-herbell
Biography
Dr. Kayla Herbell is an assistant professor in the Martha S. Pitzer Center for Women, Children, and Youth at The Ohio State University (OSU). Dr. Herbell implements a two-generation health approach in her research, meaning, outcomes of interest center on whole-family health for parents with children in residential treatment. Residential treatment are long term psychiatric facilities in which children reside for an average of one year away from their families. Dr. Herbell began her involvement with this community in her Ph.D. program when she worked as a weekend staff nurse at a residential treatment facility. While working at the facility, Dr. Herbell observed parents exhibiting high levels of distress and identified a lack of resources or support from the facility, the mental health community, or the State. This experience influenced Dr. Herbell to pursue research to support this very vulnerable population of families.
Dr. Herbell’s career objective is to design interventions informed by research, policy, and practice to equip parents with the skills needed to parent effectively and manage their child’s symptoms in the community for as long as possible to prevent residential treatment placement. Her body of research highlights critical gaps in care for these vulnerable families. Building on these findings, Dr. Herbell is developing a technology-based support program that will be implemented during the discharge phase of residential treatment as this period represents the most critical juncture in the child's treatment trajectory.