“Mental health” is a phrase used often in the medical setting. We have groups dedicated to helping youth maintain good mental health, we see groups advocate for the mental health of recovering addicts. And there are scores of groups dedicated to the rehabilitation of the mental health of our soldiers returning from combat, but what of the mental health of our aging veterans?
Working with this segment of the population for over seven years now, we have anecdotally learned much about the mental health needs of our aging veterans. They too struggle with a host of mental health issues. Those seen by the general population and then those only experienced by those veterans who saw combat during their younger years.
By design, our signature program, Battle Buddy, is at the forefront of assessing risk factors of mental health and detecting signs of depression and suicide. It’s not a topic people want to discuss, but it’s a conversation that needs to be had. So while we are taking an active role in keeping our veterans mentally healthy with socializing activities, quality meals, and interaction with others, we are also more quietly assessing their risk of harm to themselves.
Hero’s Bridge will be taking a more active approach to assessing veteran suicide risk and will continue to serve as a companion who meets each veteran with compassion in their time of need. You can read more about we will accomplish this in the first update of this newsletter.
Please read about everything else that we are involved in, in this month’s newsletter.