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Good morning, Las Vegas, and welcome to a healthier tomorrow. I'm your host, Will Rucker, and I am so excited for today's program. We have such incredible guests. So let everyone know that A Healthier Tomorrow is on the air. Tell your neighbors, tell your cousins, tell your family, even tell them folks you're feuding with that we're on the air and we've got news that they can use.
The A Healthier Tomorrow program is brought to you by the Office of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Southern Nevada Health District. Being active has... So many benefits. It can boost mood, sharpen focus, reduce stress, even help, help reduce chronic disease and improve your sleep. How can you increase your physical activity throughout the day?
Visit gethealthyclarkcounty. org for tips on how you can be more. Physically active and with that, I'd like to turn it over to my fantastic co host, uh, Lisa Howard to welcome our guests. Good morning. Good morning. Uh, I am very happy to be back in Las Vegas. I just came back from vacation. So I was just telling our guests that I'm a little, I'm a little off, but I thank our guests for being with us today.
I'm so glad that I know them. So they don't think like, what is wrong with this girl, but we have Dr. Jacobs, Dr. Sheldon Jacobs in the house today. We're very glad to have. Have him in our community. Um, he is a mental health, uh, wellness, um, expert and just out there doing the work. And we have also Richard Davis, um, for Dignity Health.
He's a community health worker and I'm a community health worker instructor, so you know, he's my boy . And we have with us, please tell us your name, Don from Dignity Health as well. I've seen Don everywhere. It's one of those things where you just kind of see people everywhere. You know who they are and then you look at them and you're like, what's your name?
Right. Thank you Don. Thank you all for being here. Um, Dr. Sheldon Jacobs, can you introduce yourself please? Yes. So, so first I thank you for having me on your show. Um, just kudos to you guys for having this space. Uh, so just a little background. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist. I have my own private practice Dr.
Sheldon Jacobs Counseling Services where I provide counseling, provide a consultation and assessments, um, for the community at large. Also, I do a lot of, uh, media consultation work as well. I'm really trying to, you know, get my face out there in the community, um, and to normalize mental health as much as possible, especially with communities of color.
Well, your face is definitely out there. I'm super proud of everything that you're doing, even at the national level. I mean, that's incredible. So July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. Talk to us about why it's so important, particularly for minority communities, to even Have this conversation.
Yeah. So first off, um, this month is, is very, very important, you know, for just the reasons you stated, but just a couple of statistics. Um, so one in three black people who have a diagnosable mental health condition receive treatment. So only one in three. So that means that almost close to 70% of individuals that are black and have a diagnosable mental health condition receive treatment.
Uh, and then on the flip side of that. So. Black men, only one out of six black men that have a diagnosable mental health condition, receive treatment or, or help for that, for their conditions. And so, uh, it's a very real issue. Um, so really just trying to bring that awareness, um, as well as just the importance of mental health and investing in our mental health, um, because it's something that we do not do.
Um, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that obviously there's stigma, um, but also I think from a, like a, a, uh, educational standpoint, I think there's a lot of, like, uh, Lot of, uh, illiteracy when it comes to our health and wellness. Um, so one of the things that, you know, I'm trying to do is to, you know, to, to spread that awareness and, and, and meet people where they are.
Um, and so I'm sure you heard the old adage, uh, you know, you teach a man to, to fish, eat for the day, but you know, you, you, you continue to, you know, teach 'em how to fish, eat for a lifetime, right? And so I think it's important that, uh, you know, we are continuing to educate folks as much as possible. Cause you can't intervene, you know, without having them where Absolutely.
And you talk about meeting people where they are. What does that look. Like when we say things like that in public health and mental health space, what does that look like for you? It means, so for instance, we had recently, I was part of an event, um, a barbershop talk event that was put on by the Southern Nevada health district.
And, um, and so we, we know that especially for black men, um, that the barbershop is a very safe place. Um, so, you know, we had professionals from different, different sectors here at this event, and we're talking about mental health and we had a huge turnout because it was in a safe place. Um, whereas if we were to, you know, hold something.
And at a hospital or a mental health clinic, we likely would not know, have that, that turnout. So I think it's important that again, you know, knowing or knowing our populations that we serve, uh, I think it is key, um, and wanting them to be as comfortable and as safe as possible. So I want to know what got you interested.
In mental health and has kept you engaged in the field to these really amazing heights. I think my own lived experience. Um, so when I was 14, I had a gun put out on me and, and, and, and the reason being was some choices that I made. I was involved in a gang. Um, and I got involved in some, some, I guess I made the wrong people upset basically.
And so, um, so somebody was trying to take my life and to the grace of God, that, that gun didn't go off. Uh, but that, but the trauma from that event has stayed with me even to this day. Uh, and so, so that, so that journey, uh, I think has really inspired the mission that I'm on now, um, because for a while I didn't know what was going on with me.
I had all these symptoms. I had these, I was, I was experiencing these different behaviors, uh, and for a while, I I didn't know what was going on. And then once I knew what was, what was going on by getting into therapy, um, seeing a therapist, um, that's when I was able to be on this path towards healing.
Well, I know that. Can you go into like what the symptoms are because I want folks to be able to recognize kind of like, well, what is the symptom? How do I even know? Sure. So I think the biggest thing is any change in functioning. So I always tell people that whenever there's a change in your functioning, that's usually a sign of something underlying is going, going on.
So for me, um, because of the trauma, I was having hypervigilance. I was having flashbacks. I was having, I was experiencing these avoided behaviors because I was trying to avoid the trauma. Um, so I wasn't talking about it at all or I'll avoid certain situations or places that mirrored, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the, the area that I was involved in where the trauma, the trauma took place.
Um, and so, and so obviously for the, the, the two most common disorders are depression, anxiety, um, and so, and the chances of, of, uh, look at this room. So this is what this is five of us in this room. And so. The statistics show that, you know, one in five of us have it, have a mental health or will have a diagnosable mental health condition.
So one of us in this room will have a diagnosable mental health condition or already have an existing one. Um, and so, so it's important that, you know, we also are staying in tune with our bodies and ourselves because we know that, hey, something's a little off with me today. I'm just not, I don't feel motivated.
I'm not, I'm not feeling, um, just, I'm in this funk, right? Um, and for some of us, sometimes it can be normal. It could be just, you know, burnout could be just, maybe just, you know, having a bad day. Uh, but if it's persistent, if it's pervasive, you know, that's usually a sign that something more underlying is going on.
That's really good, um, information for people to know, because we talk about mental health and we say mental health, right? But if your community is not aware of what that even looks like, if you're not in the field, you didn't go to college education, you know, things of that nature, it just goes right over people's heads.
I've realized that public health was not even a thing for people to even look up or even know what it was until the pandemic. Right. So when we talk about mental health, it's like we have to normalize it. And so that's why we're so grateful for you because you're normalizing. You're a PhD, you have, you have all these credentials behind you and you're out there talking about what you've been through.
So we just really want to just let you know that we appreciate you just being transparent. A lot of people can't do that. A lot of people will, you know, shield that. part of them. Um, but I just think it's amazing for you to be out there doing your work with your family and you're showing, you know, like I have kids, I have a family, but I had this terrible thing that happened to me.
And I think that's what normalizes when we talk about mental health. Um, we have a friend in the community as well that calls it mental wellbeing, right? Or, um, just mental awareness, right? Because when you say mental health, it also has a stigma around it. Can you talk about the stigma? Yes. So unfortunately when people think of mental health, you know, there's automatically this.
I don't have it. I don't, I don't, I don't have any mental health issues. Uh, but with stigma, there's obviously there's shame attached to that. And so, um, so one of the things that, um, we're starting to see this paradigm shift, especially over the last couple of years with more people that have platforms talking about their mental health.
You know, you have Simone Biles, uh, who's come out, uh, Michael Phelps, very prominent athletes. Uh, and, and, and even just, uh, you know, people that have these, these, these tremendous platforms saying that, you know what? I haven't been okay. Um, and it's okay. Uh, and so, um, so I think that, you know, obviously with stigma is unfortunately as a result of it, people do not get the help that they not only need, but they deserve.
Um, and so I think that, you know, with any other, like for instance, for HIV, back in the day, you know, there was a huge amount of stigma attached to HIV. And I feel that that, that community did a tremendous job over the years. Really, you know, um, combating the stigma, um, as pertains to, uh, you know, HIV and AIDS.
And so I think that with mental health, we're not there yet. I think we're, we're getting there slowly, uh, but it's still a lot of work to be done. But unfortunately, especially for communities of color, that stigma is, is so real. And those statistics, you know, uh, you know, indicate that, um, in terms of this, the, the, the, the sheer numbers.
Um, and so I think that, you know, we have to do a better job of, you know, getting out in front, um, getting into these communities. Again, you know, meeting people where they are, even talking about the cultural piece. Right? Because even though we know that there's a lot of cultural, cultural, uh, barriers when it comes to, you know, because of mental health and access and stigma and all those things, you know, on top of that, mistrust, right?
Mistrust of the system and healthcare. And so one of the things I'm also trying to do is, you know, I want to, and this started maybe six or seven years ago, I was creating this pipeline of, of clinicians of color. Um, so that it's more of us come into the field, right? Cause I do believe in the laws of attraction.
I believe that we see more people that look like you. You know, you're going to be, um, more likely to, you know, to, to seek the necessary help and supports. And so I think that that's, that's very important as well. Absolutely. So we've just got a few more minutes and I wanted to really some, some tangible steps for our audience to take.
So if someone notices, Hey, you know, I'm just not feeling like myself. If they can't get to a therapist, if they don't have insurance coverage or, you know, any of those scenarios. What can they do right now to improve their mental wellbeing, mental health? Yeah. So thank you for that question. I think it's an important question.
I would say, uh, identifying three or four coping tools, things that can, that are effective, sometimes you may not know that they're effective or not until you try them. Um, but I mean, by coping tools, I'm, I'm, I'm referring to, um, you know, tools that can help you to get through a tough moment, tools that can help you to maybe open up about something that you do not want to talk about.
Um, so. could be meditation. The meditation is a big one. So meditation, you know, can be so many different things. It could be prayer, it could be, uh, yoga, it could be breathing exercises. Uh, but really what the focus of, uh, meditation is being present, uh, connecting to your thoughts, your feelings, uh, your senses, everything that's going on around you in that, in that moment, being able to connect to those, those things.
Um, exercise is another big. Um, for, for some people, not for everybody, because some people don't, don't like exercise, right? So I'm not going to encourage somebody to go to the gym if they have an allergy to going to the gym. Uh, so it's important that, you know, you get meeting people already are, um, journaling is another big one.
I'm going on, going on walks, um, you know, talking to a close friend if you're dealing with something. Um, so these are, these are all things that we can do and not, and not utilize them when the, when the house, when the roof is on fire, but utilize these, these tools, you know, proactively do them on a regular basis so that when you are.
experiencing a situation or crisis that, you know, your road doesn't, doesn't, doesn't, you know, turn upside down. That's, that's, that's the key. Absolutely. And you mentioned these tools and you mentioned journaling. That's my favorite tool, right? Just to stay, I'm a writer. So I, that's just natural for me. I didn't know that it was actually used as a tool until I got into HIV and became a director of a program and was talking to different people that had, um, HIV, they were part of our program.
And. They needed tools and I just took what was in my toolbox and said, this is what I do. Maybe you could do this. And that's when I started noticing that other people didn't know about journaling to me. It's just writing to me. It's just writing my thoughts out. And I thought it was something that everybody did, but it's actually something that a lot of people were just like, I've never thought about doing that.
You know, they think of it as a diary and they're just like, especially me. And they're like, I don't want to do that. And you're like, no, it's just a book. It doesn't have to look like a diary on the outside, but it's just a journal. And it's just you writing your thoughts out. Um, so. journaling is a huge component to mental health, to staying healthy, to write your thoughts out.
How are you feeling in this moment? Emotions, right? We don't really tap into our emotions in the black community. We really try to avoid, like you mentioned avoiding, uh, behavior earlier. We really try to avoid those behaviors, like thinking about what has happened to us, right? Instead of actually dealing with them.
So thank you for mentioning, uh, mentioning journaling. Um, I did have a question about you also are on a journey of. Talking to people about homelessness. You have a whole book, right? Can you tell us about that? Yeah. So it's coming up on my five year anniversary. So, um, so almost, so five years ago, um, I went undercover as a homeless man.
I'm here in downtown Las Vegas, uh, actually right around, not too, not too far from here, um, but, uh, but 40 hours, no, no, no food, no, no money, um, no phone and no anything, and I really just want to put myself out there to bring awareness to homelessness and mental health because the two go hand in hand. I care.
about mental health, but I'll talk about homelessness. You can't talk about homelessness without talking about mental health. And so, um, so that, that experience ended up turning into a book and I wasn't, I wasn't expecting to write a book. It just, you know, the pandemic happened. I had a little additional time on my hands because everyone's working from home.
And I just started writing about that experience because when I went out on the streets, I had a journal and I was journaling everything. My thoughts about feeling. You know, I, I saw experience and, um, and I wanted people to really get a true feel of what it's like, uh, you know, to be, to be in that, in that type of situation.
Um, and the, the feedback that I've received has been, it's been tremendous. Um, you know, and again, trying to. Do whatever I can to, you know, to, you know, to, to, to bring awareness. I think it was amazing when I saw it, when I first met you and we became Facebook friends and I started seeing those pictures of homelessness, I was just like, I don't know what's happening here.
And then I had to start reading the captions to see, Oh, he wrote a book about, it was an experiment.
Well, I'm so grateful that you, uh, spent your morning with us here at a healthier tomorrow. Thank you for sharing those tools and your experience. As we close out. Tell folks how they can get your book and get in touch with you if they have questions about mental health. Just, just give us your contact.
Yes, absolutely. So you can access the book. Um, it's on any major, um, um, online. So Amazon, of course, uh, the title of the book is 48. It's a spiritual memoir on homelessness. Um, and then also if you want to get in contact with me, my website has all my socials and my contact. Uh, contact information, so it's www.
drsheldonjacobs. com. Awesome. Thank you so much for being here. You are listening to A Healthier Tomorrow. The A Healthier Tomorrow program is brought to you by the Office of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Southern Nevada Health Department. district looking for healthy recipes that include fruits and vegetables.
Or maybe you want to know if your local farmer's market accepts snap benefits. The snap cooking app can help. You can search by zip code to find snap retailers near you find hundreds of easy recipes, locate farmers markets that accept snap. See a local list of food pantries and much, much more. The app is free to download in both the iTunes and Google play stores.
So a downloaded today, as always, you can find more information at get healthy Clark County dot. All right. So Richard, I am so happy that you were able to join us today as well. You are facilitating a program that has a lot to do with mental health as well with, uh, folks that are addicted to nicotine through the freedom from smoking program.
Yes, and I really appreciate what Dr. Jacobs said about how, as
well as awareness, services, uh, for the black community, uh, for freedom of smoking, but we were so happy up at our North Las Vegas Wellness Center, uh, for Dignity Health, up at Craig and Martin Luther King, we just had a very successful freedom of smoking cessation program, and we had two black men, uh, quit, and, uh, we're celebrating their We had one person who was not able to quit, but they're practicing their success and they're going to keep trying to quit.
Uh, so we want to make this services, uh, more and more available. Uh, especially for the African American community because, uh, sometimes they're just sort of written off in terms of, oh, well, they're not going to quit. And, you know, why, why bother? But that's not true. We found that, uh, every community can quit.
Once we provide them with this, the help, the services, and then I learned new things at each, each program I do like. So in this class, a gentleman who was a successful quitter at a bus stop, he'd use a pickle instead of a cigarette. Uh, and that's very successful for him. Uh, when I worked in the homeless communities, we would do like what's called pack tracks where we'd count the number of cigarettes they smoke, et cetera, in a pack.
But then they all said, well, that's not how we spoke. They would harvest about.
So I had to have a whole new approach to how to do sensation with that community. So every time I do a class, I learn something new about the communities I'm working with. That's amazing. And yet you do have to be flexible. I think that's That's, that's turning into our theme, Alisa, with meeting people right where they are.
Yes. Absolutely. Um, cultural competence is so important. Right. Important. Right. If you're not from that community, you have to learn from that community of how to help that community. So I'm really glad to hear that you've been doing that, Richard. I've known you for so many years now, and I just know that you're that type of person that you want to learn more than you want to, you know, talk.
And you're one of those people. So we thank you for all that you're doing in the community. As far as this clinic is concerned, who do we have with you today? We'll We have with us, uh, two, uh, leaders from, uh, Doolittle, uh, community, senior community center. And then my, uh, straw boss up at the North Las Vegas, uh, uh, wellness center, uh, Don.
And, uh, they're here to talk about some of the health programs that they provide in the community. Uh, so I'll let them take over. Okay. Before we get to them, can you tell us when your next Freedom from Smoking Clinic is starting? Oh, it starts Tuesday, uh, July 18th from 3 to 4 p. m. at our North Las Vegas campus at 1550, uh, Uh, uh, West Craig Avenue in, uh, at Martin Luther King, uh, Suite 250.
Awesome. So, Dawn, tell us about what's going on at this new North Las Vegas campus. Why do people need to hear about this? Well, uh, first of all, I want to say thank you so much for having us today. I think one of the biggest barriers that we have is just awareness. So this is so important. So thank you so much for letting us be here.
Uh, so yes, at the North Las Vegas Wellness Center, we're on Craig and MLK. Um, the first thing I want, I want to mention. Um, just, uh, to piggyback on the doctor, Dr. Jacobs on mental health. We do offer a mental health first aid course for adults and for youth. It's a one day course, very comprehensive, and it does help, uh, community members, um, just any caring individual, uh, hospital staff, police staff, first responders, anyone in the community to understand what are those signs and symptoms of somebody who is suffering from a mental health issue or concern or something like that or challenge.
So we do offer that course, um. And then at our center, we have so many other courses and it ranges from zero to however age, uh, we have courses for little kids called zoom Beanie. It's a fun gymnastics course. We have a high fitness class for high cardio. We have enhanced fitness for seniors, uh, that works on their strength and their agility and balance.
We do a little cardio, um, and strength training. Uh, we also have nutritional seminars each month. We have new dietitians on staff. We have a diabetes educator and monthly they come out and do seminars, um, pre diabetes, uh, managing diabetes. And then again, doing the nutritional seminars at least once a month, if not twice.
And so, and let me just say all of these things that I'm speaking up are free of charge. Wow. This is for the community. This is for all of us, for all of you. So we're really proud to be up here in the North. Because, um, we have a great population up here and, you know, post COVID, it's been hard to get everyone back and to, and to know what we do offer.
So this is a great start to try to get that word out. Um, we also have workshops, uh, that we offer chronic pain self management, which is great because that allows the person to actually manage their own chronic pain. And then we have the diabetes self management again, for working with your diabetes.
That's a six week workshop that we do. Now we do that in our wellness centers throughout the Valley. We have six locations. From Henderson to the north. And um, we also push that out into the communities such as Doolittle and MLK Senior Center. We're also up in Centennial Hills at the active adult center.
And then we also go to numerous, um, you know, 55 and over communities. So Nona Palms, we were there recently. That was a wonderful one. Centennial, Cynthia lives out there. She gave me that tip, . So, you know, we're just here to serve the community. Um, and then we also have, um, a great h I V program. We have a senior counseling program if you are in need, uh, to speak with somebody, uh, a senior peer, we have that program as well.
And then we have a lot, a lot of opportunities for community members to get out and get involved, to become instructors, to help their other community members as well. So we have a lot of volunteer opportunities. Uh, there's so much to offer. Again, thank you. We have our reach magazine, um, that you can access online, uh, and we can make sure that we get that information to you so that you can go and see everything that we offer throughout the community.
And again, we have six different locations. Um, so again, I'm just happy to be here and thank you so much. Well, we're thrilled you're here. And, and what I'm listening to is that you have something for everyone. Absolutely. How do they get in contact to find this reach magazine and where can they go to a website or anything like that to find out what class fit is a fit for you?
for them. Okay, great. So if you want to register for a class or just find out what we do have, then you can just go to strosehospitals. org and then slash classes. So it's
strosehospitals. org slash classes. You can also call our main number, which is 702 616 4900. Awesome. Well, Thank you so much for sharing that. And I know you've got your partners here from Doolittle cause you are in the community. So I want to hear what's going on at Doolittle as well. Okay. Well, good morning.
We're going to be really quick. We know our time is short, so thank you for allowing us to share your space. Uh, we are at Doolittle, uh, we're in the heart of 89106. We're a proud community. We love our people. We are on the fun side of this healthy stuff. What you trying to say about my health program? Well, you know what?
We want to keep them healthy. So that they don't need the, but you know, but if they do, but there are good resources. So we're grateful for that. So we do exercise classes Monday through Fridays. Uh, there's some type of physical fitness exercise, whether it be chair fitness, line dance, Zumba, whatever you need.
We also invite people in like Dignity Health and, and, and, uh, REACH programs to come in and be a part of our program. We invite you in. We would love for you guys to come back. And do something with the seniors and be a part of our program and thank you Cynthia who is who is one of my sidekicks She actually works with me who?
Brought this information to me and just thank you as a community. We thank you for sharing Yeah, I've got to say that the the process for working with you it do little this is from a someone putting on a community event Was so amazing and if I had like you got here this morning and you and at least oh, hey If I had known that would have had y'all talking
But it's such an amazing facility. The folks here, the energy is just really fantastic and it's a welcoming place for everybody to be. So thank you for, for having that space. And we have a lot of fun and we're grateful for you all. Good. Well, Alisa, any other updates for, for our listening audience? Well, we have some upcoming events you have to, okay.
So one of the main things that we have coming up, it is our Western day. So on August, I believe that's Wednesday, August 16th at 11 a. m. Come on out all the cowboys and cowgirls. We are having a Western day and I promise it's going to be a blast as it is every year. Is it, what is it? Is it food? It's a Western day where you're going to eat Western food.
You're going to dress. Western style and you're going to do some Western activities. Are there going to be any bowls? You know, you have to come and see. Well, we're appreciative of everything you all do in the community. I know the Doolittle Senior Center always has something going on. My parents love going there.
Can I say we're Doolittle active adults here? Active adults here because you're not. And I'm a senior. Well, they are seniors, but they're very active. They're very active. Thank you for that correction. Active adults. Yeah, and I didn't know that. I was messing folks up. Where is the community center? Where is it?
It's the community center. Y'all just come on down. So awesome. Well, hey, I want to just thank all of our amazing guests for joining us here at A Healthier Tomorrow this morning. Ms. Alisa, thank you so much for being a fabulous co pilot on this journey. Well, thank you for having me. Absolutely. And to our wonderful listening audience, thank you for tuning in each and every month for a healthier tomorrow.
As I always remind you, you are not just a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop and what you do matters. So live compassionately. This has been a healthier tomorrow. I'm your host, Will Rucker and join us again next month for more vital health information. Just for you. We'll see you then.
