USA Health Stroke Program recognized during Stroke Awareness Month

By Michelle Ryan-Day
[email protected]

USA Health’s Stroke Program marked Stroke Awareness Month with a series of impactful community outreach initiatives designed to expand education, improve prevention, and strengthen recognition of stroke symptoms across the region.

Led by Emily Dahlmann, DNP, USA Health stroke program director, the month highlighted both clinical excellence and deep community engagement. A key moment of recognition came when Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis and the Mobile City Council honored the program, an acknowledgment Dahlmann described as surreal.

“It just further affirms that University Hospital should be the first choice for stroke care because we provide leading-edge treatment and high-quality, evidence-based care when minutes count,” she said. “It is so meaningful that the USA Health Stroke Program's outreach has not gone unnoticed because we strive to be constantly present in the community, offering life-saving education.”

This year’s flagship initiative, “Seeds for Stroke Prevention,” combined health education with practical prevention tools. With support from Chiesi USA, the program distributed hundreds of vegetable seed kits designed to promote healthy eating, an essential factor for reducing stroke risk. Each kit also included BEFASTT magnets to help the community quickly recognize stroke warning signs and respond appropriately.  

“One of the ways to reduce your risk of stroke is to eat healthy, and we understand that not everyone has the means to do so,” Dahlmann said. “As we pass out these kits into the community, we are encouraging people to send pictures of their plants to our new e-mail address, [email protected]. Hopefully, we will be able to submit this project as a poster for the International Stroke Conference in 2027.”

Another cornerstone of the program’s vision is innovative, hands-on education through the use of a traveling inflatable brain display. What began as a long-standing idea from Dahlmann became reality through support from Chiesi USA, evolving into a powerful teaching tool first introduced locally at a South Alabama Jaguars football game.

The immersive brain experience allows participants to physically walk through neuroanatomy and better understand conditions such as stroke, aneurysms, and other neurological diseases. Plans call for using the inflatable brain as a mobile educational resource for schools, churches, health fairs, and community events, designed to make complex brain health concepts accessible and memorable.

“If anyone at USA or USA Health would like to use the brain at an event, please reach out,” she says. “We want this to be something that travels, teaches, and ultimately saves lives.”

Dahlmann emphasized that education remains central to the program’s mission, noting that stroke awareness is still limited in many communities.

“Outreach is incredibly important and very close to my heart. Everywhere we go, there are people who do not fully understand what stroke is, what you should do if stroke is suspected, and how to reduce your risk of stroke,” she said. “To quote the late Shelia Ross, a former director of the stroke program, ‘If we can reach at least one person in a room of 50, we have been successful.’”