{"id":1406356,"date":"2019-09-17T07:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=987734"},"modified":"2019-09-17T07:00:41","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T13:00:41","slug":"why-mental-health-is-an-essential-component-of-physical-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch\/local-news\/why-mental-health-is-an-essential-component-of-physical-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Why mental health is an essential component of physical health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: This sponsored content was brought to you by Connect for Health Colorado<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"
Every Mountain Family Health integrated clinic has behavioral health professionals on staff that offer both individual or group counseling. <\/em><\/strong>
Getty Images<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Mountain
\nFamily Health Centers believes that you can\u2019t have physical health without
\nmental health. When you keep the entire body well and whole, you\u2019re keeping
\nfamilies and communities well and whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe
\nlink between our mind and our soul and our body is really a powerful one,\u201d said
\nGarry Schalla, development director for Mountain Family Health Centers, which
\nhas 10 clinics that serve more than 20,000 people in western Colorado. <\/p>\n

Mountain
\nFamily\u2019s integrated care model includes medical, dental and behavioral health.
\nServices are offered to anyone, whether you have private insurance, Medicare or
\nMedicaid, or no insurance. <\/p>\n

In each
\nMountain Family Health integrated clinic in the mountain region \u2014 in Rifle,
\nGlenwood Springs, Basalt and Edwards \u2014 there are behavioral health
\nprofessionals that offer both individual or group counseling. Behavioral health
\nproviders are also available to work with medical or dental patients at a
\nmoment\u2019s notice, Schalla said.<\/p>\n

Mountain
\nFamily Health Centers are not free clinics, but there is a sliding scale fee
\noffered for those who are uninsured based on household size and income. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe
\nwant you to be invested in your health,\u201d Schalla said.   <\/p>\n

Behavioral health is part of overall
\nhealth<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patients
\nwho visit any Mountain Health clinic fill out a short patient survey that
\nincludes some questions about mental health. Schalla said the front desk staff,
\nphysician assistants, nurses and doctors are trained to identify signs that
\ncould indicate some mental health challenges. <\/p>\n

Mountain
\nFamily Health Centers also works directly with crisis response providers such
\nas Mind Springs and Aspen Hope, bringing not only follow-up counseling, but
\nmedical and dental support when needed, Schalla said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe
\nalso continue to do bilingual education around the stigma surrounding mental
\nhealth for the Latino communities due to the cultural differences in how they
\nview it,\u201d Schalla said. \u201cWe want them to understand they don\u2019t have to carry
\nthese burdens and there are resources for them to reach out that are bilingual
\nand culturally acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Educating
\ncommunities about mental health resources is so important due to the fact that
\nmental health is linked to overall physical health and longevity. Research
\nshows that those suffering from mental health challenges live shorter lives
\nthan those who don\u2019t. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe
\nknow that it\u2019s often those outside factors \u2014 the stress, fear and anxiety \u2014
\nthat really contribute to our lack of well-being, so it\u2019s really important that
\nwe offer an integrated system that includes that mental health portion of
\ncare,\u201d Schalla said.<\/p>\n

Shopping for health insurance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since
\nthe first Affordable Care Act open enrollment in 2013, Mountain Family Health
\nCenters has been partnering with Connect for Health Colorado to help get people
\nsigned up for health insurance. For the last three years, Mountain Family
\nHealth Centers has been an official assistance site, meaning their Health
\nCoverage Guides can help people fill out financial assistance applications and
\nreview plan eligibility. The only thing they can\u2019t do is advise people about
\nspecific health plans. <\/p>\n

\u201cNavigating
\nthe insurance system is hard and people often have trouble signing up or
\ngetting started,,\u201d said Silvia Santana, outreach and enrollment manager for
\nMountain Family Health Centers. \u201cWe want to spread the word that we\u2019re here to
\nhelp people enroll in insurance through Connect for Health Colorado. Mental
\nHealth is considered one of the 10 Essential Health Benefits included in
\nqualified plans under the ACA.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: This sponsored content was brought to you by Connect for Health Colorado Every Mountain Family Health integrated clinic has behavioral health professionals on staff that offer both individual or group counseling. Getty Images Mountain Family Health Centers believes that you can\u2019t have physical health without mental health. When you keep the entire body […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1406356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 06:34:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KKCH - The Lift FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1406356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1406356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1406356\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1406356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1406356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kkch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1406356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}