Over the past few years, the number of 911 calls involving individuals struggling with mental illness has increased in Detroit.  

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The number of mental health care workers responding to those calls has increased, as well. Those mental health care responders more frequently enter crisis situations along with police officers in Detroit and around the state. But there are also officials who respond to those situations without police officers at all.  

The Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN) established a mobile crisis service last year to provide immediate care to people in need of help. Today, the organization is operating its mobile crisis service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  

To discuss this, DWIHN’s Mobile Crisis Director JaKeya Kellom and Public Affairs Manager Michael McElrath joined The Metro on Wednesday. Kellom says calls to DWIHN’s crisis services have increased from 30 in December to 141 in the month of July.

“I think sometimes when you see an increase in numbers you may think, ‘well is that a good thing, is that a bad thing?’ But for us it’s a good thing because that lets us know there are individuals learning how to use our service, and knowing that it’s available,” Kellom said.

Use the media player above to listen to the full interview with Kellom and McElrath.

More headlines from The Metro on Aug. 28, 2024: 

• Only 45% of Michigan’s Class of 2024 seniors completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, according to the Michigan FAFSA Tracker. Jill Marecki, director of the nonprofit Detroit Regional Dollars for Scholars, joined the show to discuss the organization’s scholarship program and an award from the Educational Credit Management Corporation to help students sign up for FAFSA.
• For football fans, it’s an exciting time as we’re getting closer to the kickoff of the NFL season. So close in fact, NFL teams just made their final roster decisions on Tuesday. Justin Rogers, founder of the Detroit Football Network joined The Metro to discuss what we can expect this season.
• Detroit’s District 7 City Council Member Fred Durhal joined the show to discuss the recent opening of the new Tireman-Minock Park, as well as the Motor City Match program to help local entrepreneurs.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Many older adults want to stay in their homes as they age. But aging in place requires careful consideration and planning by the individual and/or their family.

Making this decision can be difficult for families as they navigate the logistics and challenges that come with an older loved one aging in place and ensuring both financial stability and the person’s safety and well-being.

Today on Created Equal, Wayne State University gerontology professor Amanda Leggett joined the show to discuss what it takes to be ready – from a number of perspectives – for the difficulties that come with aging and aging in place.

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Guest:

Amanda Leggett is an assistant professor in the Institute of Gerontology and Department of Psychology at Wayne State University and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. Her research program focuses on the dementia caregiver stress process and mental health in late-life. 

Leggett spoke about the importance of being able to handle the basic activities of daily life, such as managing finances and basic mobility, and how some symptoms of aging can make it difficult for some older adults to manage those tasks independently. 

“When individuals start to need more assistance in managing these activities, that’s kind of when we start to think about, ‘is this something that the family can help with, or an in-home care aid might be able to help with? Or do we want to start thinking about that transition to a long-term care facility? And I think a big piece of this also really just boils down to safety, we want to make sure that if someone is independent in their home that they are safe,” said Leggett.

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.