{"id":1314697,"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\/kske\/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\u2019s Note: This sponsored content was brought to you by Connect for Health Colorado<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Editor\u2019s 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 well […]<\/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":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1314697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 14:25:22","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":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}