For over two years, “It’s Your Health Radio” has been informing Santa Clarita residents on what they need to know about recent and relevant topics about health.
“It’s another way to get health information to the community,” said Patrick Moody, director of marketing, public relations and community engagement at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.
Episodes are broken down into eight- to 12-minute segments, featuring an interview with a health professional about a given topic. Those topics range from social media use among children, benefits of breastfeeding and the importance of children getting vaccinated.
The idea behind keeping those episodes at a short length is so that the information listeners receive is easily digestible, Moody said. Depending on the length of their commute walking or in the car, listeners won’t have to make a major commitment to hearing a lengthy episode.
By following the model started by health podcast provider RadioMD, the show’s stream of topics remain a challenge, Moody said. Episode ideas are discussed at monthly staff meetings at the hospital, putting together an editorial calendar with six to 12 episodes planned.
Looking through episodes guests regularly listen to, it was discovered that 75 percent of listeners are female, Moody said.
“We didn’t really design it that way, but that’s how it worked out,” he said.
With that in mind, episodes that are frequently listened to or shared focus on child care, nutrition and even a recent episode about marijuana. Featuring Dr. Darrin Privett, the episode focuses on safety matters regarding marijuana use following its legalization in California. While most episodes bring in around a few hundred listeners, “Marijuana is Now Legal: But is it Safe?” was listened to and downloaded 1,090 times. To Moody, that number was “eye-opening.”
The latest episode featured a discussion with Dr. Arjun Reyes about suicide prevention and what risk factors people should know. In an interview with host Melanie Cole, Reyes talked about warning signs and the genetic risks that exist with respect to suicide.
“Do you think there’s still a stigma surrounding mental illness and that that’s why people are maybe not as willing to talk about this?” asked Cole.
“Yes, definitely there is still a huge stigma,” said Reyes. “Most people do not want to be viewed as depressed of have a mental health issue. So, they are going to try not to talk about it and also a lot of times, the suicidality also can be very impulsive so, people can become suicidal on a dime based on a certain situation. So, that’s another reason why it’s so unpredictable.”
To hear the rest of the episode or to see the full catalogue of “It’s Your Health Radio” episodes, check out henrymayo.com/community/its-your-health-radio/.
