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From YouTube: Episode 57: Mental Health Is Ageless
Description
On the latest episode of Chesterfield Behind the Mic, we talk to Melissa Ackley and Alexa van Aartrijk about National Suicide Prevention Month, the alarming trend of suicide in older adults, why connection and activity are so beneficial, and much more.
Credits:
Director: Martin Stith
Executive Producer: Teresa Bonifas
Producer/Writer/Host: Brad Franklin
Director of Photography/Editor: Matt Boyce
Producer/Camera Operator: Martin Stith and Matt Neese
Graphics: Debbie Wrenn
Promotions and Media: J. Elias O’Neal and Elizabeth Hart
Music:
Hip Hop This by Seven Pounds
Inspiring Electronic Rock by Alex Grohl
Guests:
Melissa Ackley, Chesterfield Mental Health Support Services Prevention Services Manager and Co-Chair of the Chesterfield Suicide Awareness and Prevention Coalition
Alex van Aartrijk, Manager of the Office on Aging and Disability Resources
Recorded in-house by Constituent and Media Services
Chesterfield.gov/podcast
Follow us on social media! On Facebook, like our page: Chesterfield Behind the Mic. On Twitter, you can find us at @ChesterfieldVa and on Instagram it’s @ChesterfieldVirginia. And you can also watch the podcast on WCCT TV Thursday through Sunday at 7 p.m. as well as on weekends at noon on Comcast Channel 98 and Verizon Channel 28.
A
Good
morning,
good
evening,
good
afternoon,
wherever
it
is
that
you
are
and
wherever
you
may
be,
thank
you
very
much
for
making
us
a
part
of
your
day.
I
am
Brad
Franklin
the
creative
content
right
here
in
chessfield
and
I'm
very
glad
to
tell
you
that
Chesterfield
on
the
mic
is
on
the
air
once
again.
Now
it
is
we're
coming
up
on
September,
which
is
National
Suicide
Prevention
month
and
as
part
of
the
pr
campaign
that
mental
support
services
and
the
Coalition
do
in
advance
of
that
and
throughout
the
month
of
September.
A
I've
got
a
couple
of
guests
on
today
to
talk
about
what
is
some
some
really
important
information,
especially
for
those
of
us
who
have
older
adults
in
our
lives.
Folks,
we
care
about
who
might
be
sort
of
in
a
place
where
maybe
Society
doesn't
always
maybe
consider
their
mental
health,
and
maybe
they
themselves
don't
even
realize.
Maybe
what's
going
on
before
we
get
started.
Let
me
go
around
and
introduce
everybody
today.
I've
got
Melissa
Ackley.
A
Who
is
let
me
get
this
title
right
now:
the
dress
for
mental
health
support
services,
Prevention
Services
manager
and
she's.
Also,
the
co-chair
of
the
chest:
suicide
awareness
and
prevention
Coalition
I've
also
got
Alexa
van
Archer,
who
is
the
manager
of
the
Office
on
Aging
and
Disability
resources?
Ladies
welcome
to
the
podcast.
How
are
we
doing.
A
D
A
A
Now
some
folks
might
not
know
is
that
one
of
the
things
a
coalition
does
is
put
together
this
campaign,
every
September.
They
work
with
our
office
and
Communications
media
to
try
to
put
that
together.
So
there's
various
different
things
that
you
might
be
hearing
about
throughout
September
related
to
Suicide
Prevention
that
you
probably
won't
hear
about
in
various
channels
that
the
county
puts
out
throughout
the
year.
C
Yes,
so
our
Campaign
theme
this
year
is
mental
health
is
Ageless
yeah.
What
the
CDC
recently
released.
Statistics
are
related
to
Suicide,
but
2022,
and
in
that
data
it
showed
that
people
85
and
older
had
the
highest
rates
of
suicide,
followed
by
people
ages.
75
to
84..
Last
year's
data
here
in
Virginia
showed
that
people
ages
75
to
84
had
the
highest
rates
of
suicide.
D
D
A
One
of
the
things
that
I
think
is
is
kind
of
consistent
and
Alexa
I'll
go
to
you,
I
think.
If
you
think
about
you,
know
folks,
getting
older,
there's
a
lot
less
I
guess
that
goes
into
sort
of
maybe
their
day-to-day
life
right.
There
they're
no
longer
in
the
hustle
and
bustle
of
maybe
kids
in
school,
they're
no
longer
in
the
hustle
bustle
of
jobs,
because
most
of
them
are
retired.
A
D
D
D
B
So
staying
involved,
staying
active
in
the
community
finding
purpose,
wherever
that
is
it,
doesn't
necessarily
need
to
be
a
part-time
job,
doesn't
need
to
be
a
full-time
job.
It
can
just
be
giving
back
to
the
community
meeting
with
other
people
in
your
neighborhood.
Anything
like
that
that
gives
you
purpose
is
really
important
to
your
overall
health
and
well-being.
A
Yeah
now
I
know
when
we
talked
several
months
back,
you
know
one
of
the
things
we
talked
a
lot
about
was
sort
of
the
activities.
You
know
that
are
kind
of
out
there
for
folks
who
are
older
and
and
again
we're
for
this
campaign,
we're
really
focusing
on
our
folks
who
are
older
adults
or
the
the
folks
who,
like
myself
and
lots
of
people
who
are
children
of
older
adults,
family
of
older
adults
and
maybe
even
friends
of
older
adults,
people.
A
D
B
B
The
same
age,
so
finding
a
hobby
that
really
interests
you
through
the
parks
and
rec
department.
They
have
agriculture
classes,
they
have
Mahjong,
they
have
active
classes
like
yoga
things
like
that,
finding
something
that
you
enjoy
first
and
then
you,
the
rest,
will
follow.
We
also
have
volunteer
opportunities
with
the
county.
We
have.
We
have
an
excellent
volunteer
coordinator,
Kelly
Booth,
who,
if
you're
interested
in
any
opportunities
you
can
reach
out
to
their
office
and
they'll,
connect
you
with
a
with
a
volunteer
opportunity:
I
love,
Hands-On,
RVA
too,
that's
for
our
whole
region.
B
D
B
A
Yeah
one
of
the
things
we
did
for
for
this
campaign
is
we
we
shot
some
video
down
at
one
of
the
the
rainbow
cafes
and
what
I
found
really
interesting
was
just
to
see
the
the
folks
and
and
not
just
a
natural
sort
of
interaction
and
and
and
talking
to
them.
It
certainly
seems
like
those
things
are
meaningful
for
them
in
a
way
that
maybe
for
those
of
us
who
don't
see
them
every
day
or
maybe
we
aren't
in
the
the
you
know,
sort
of
on
the
ground.
A
D
B
D
B
D
B
A
It
yeah
I,
mean
sometimes
being
an
advocate
for
yourself
is
the
hardest
part
right,
as
opposed
to
just
being
an
advocate
for
somebody
else,
Melissa
from
the
mhss
side
of
things.
What
recommendations
do
you
want
to
share
with
folks
who
may
be
concerned,
or
either
about
themselves
or
friends
or
their
loved
ones?
Yeah.
C
You're
concerned
that
your
family
member
or
someone
you
care
about
is
how
having
thoughts
of
suicide
is
struggling
with
a
mental
health
concern,
start
a
conversation
right,
say
what
you
notice
offer
to
help
connect
to
resources
and
then,
particularly,
if
you
are
seeing
signs
that
they
might
be
having
thoughts
of
suicide.
We
want
you
to
ship
that
conversation
to
a
focus
on
suicide
and.
D
D
C
Having
an
in-person
event
on
Sunday
September
10th
at
St,
Mark's
Church
on
Lex
Lane
and
a
virtual
event
on
September
25th,
2023,
okay-
and
we
are
also
partnering
with
a
variety
of
organizations
to
do
talk
specifically
in
those
settings.
We
would
welcome
requests
to
come
into
other
settings
to
do
presentations,
we've
got
videos,
we've
got
print
materials
and
additional
resources.
We're
happy
to.
A
C
D
C
D
C
That's
going
to
be
your
emergency
number
there's.
Also
a
variety
of
mental
health
providers
here
in
our
County,
which
you
can
access
via.
Usually
your
insurance
card
is
going
to
have
a
number
to
call
related
to
Mental
Health.
If
you
have
an
EAP,
often
everyone
in
your
household
is
covered,
regardless
of,
if
they're,
on
your
insurance,
okay,
and
so,
if
you
have
a
parent,
perhaps
living
in
your
house,.
A
A
Mean
I
think
a
lot
of
folks,
probably
don't
even
realize
that
one
in
five
seniors.
So
if
it's
I
guess
the
CDC
says
at
least
the
one
in
five
seniors
suffer
from
a
mental
health
condition.
So
this
information
is
obviously
very
important,
especially
for
for
folks
who
are
dealing
with
a
lot
of
different
things,
especially
the
this
part
of
their
lives
where
everything
gets
a
little
bit
harder
and
and
like
Alexa
was
talking
earlier.
A
You
know
you
start
to
kind
of
feel
those
those
groups
and
that
that
context
sort
of
start
to
go
away
a
little
bit.
But
I
really
want
to
thank
you
both
for
being
on
the
podcast
and
talking
to
us
a
little
about
suicide
prevention
month
coming
up
in
September
Melissa
Alexa.
Thank
you
very
much
for
joining
us
today.
I
really
appreciate.
A
Me
all
right
make
sure
you
check
us
out
on
social
media,
on
Twitter,
at
Chelsea
VA
and
on
Instagram,
it's
just
for
Virginia
Woodward
and
on
Facebook.
You
can
check
out
our
podcast
Pages
search
chess
go
by
the
mic.
Now
also
make
sure
you
follow
or
subscribe
to,
the
podcast
on
Apple
podcast,
Spotify,
Google,
podcast,
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or
whatever
it
is
that
you
get
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shows
and
if
you'd
like
to
leave
us
a
rating
or
you'd,
be
greatly
appreciated.
A
As
always,
the
video
version
of
the
show
is
available
on
our
YouTube
channel,
as
well
as
on
our
website
at
chesterfield.gov
podcast.
That's
also
where
you
can
submit
feedback
anytime,
make
suggestions
or
just
reach
out
to
us.
You
can
also
watch
the
show
on
wcct
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through
Sunday,
at
7,
on
the
weekends
at
noon:
that's
Comcast,
channel,
98
and
Verizon
Channel
28..
A
Lastly,
you
can
check
out
chesterfield.gov
connect
with
us
found
a
number
of
other
ways
to
connect
to
Chesterfield
County,
thanks
to
my
director,
Martin
Stith,
my
executive
producer,
Teresa
Boniface
and
all
the
good
folks
from
constituent,
immediate
services
for
all
they
do.
My
thanks
to
you
for
joining
us
today.
So
from
all
of
us
here
in
Chesterfield,
thanks
again
for
making
this
a
part
of
your
day,
we'll
see
you
again
real
soon
take
good
care.