On a recent evening in a Basalt backyard, three generations of family gathered for dinner.<\/p>\n
The mother and daughter played volleyball for a few minutes while veggie burgers cooked on the grill, and the father and his parents sat on the porch discussing the news of the day as a black cat slinked around their feet.<\/p>\n
Meet the Locke family. Over the past 20 years, the three generations have made their home in the Roaring Fork Valley, first when Kelly and Karen came to work as family physicians and to raise their four children; then when Marilyn and John retired and moved to the Basalt area full-time about 15 years later.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on their two decades of experience as local physicians and parents, Kelly and Karen Locke see the Aspen area as an active, health conscious community, a characteristic they feel benefits all aspects of life in the valley for all ages.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a young age, people feel they need to be eating healthy, exercising regularly and it\u2019s not just coming from their parents,\u201d Karen said. \u201cHealth promotion extends into pretty much every aspect of life here.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the most recent Regional Community Health Assessment \u2014 conducted to help guide public health initiatives in Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties from 2018-2022 \u2014 people with higher incomes or personal wealth, more years of education, and who live in healthy and safe environments also have longer life expectancies and better overall health outcomes, as previously reported.<\/p>\n
For Kelly and Karen, the general heightened investment in individual health across the valley they\u2019ve observed helps contribute to locals\u2019 longevity, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s more of a nationwide trend but I also think our valley is a bit unique because people are really dialed into what their problems are,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cPeople in the valley seem to be go-getters who are used to digging in and figuring out how to solve things and so they often come in (to the clinic) with requests like \u2018Well, can I do it this way or can I do it that way?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Karen and Kelly have job-shared as family physicians in both public and private practices since they moved to the Roaring Fork Valley from Wisconsin in 1999.<\/p>\n
The couple currently works in the Aspen Valley Primary Care clinic in Basalt and sees a little bit of everything on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily medicine allows us to apply all of the different aspects of medicine out there,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cIt\u2019s a variety.\u201d<\/p>\n
That variety means the Lockes can go from seeing children to grandparents and from helping with mental health challenges to conducting skin biopsies, and gives them the opportunity to treat \u201cthe whole patient.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if they\u2019ve noticed any health trends, positive or negative, related to living in high altitude communities such as Basalt and Aspen, the Lockes said they haven\u2019t really seen any major detriments or advantages to living over 8,000 feet.<\/p>\n
Kelly and Karen said they have seen more sleep apnea than other physicians at lower elevations, and some breathing conditions among both locals and tourists related to high altitude, but not a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have pollution or other things up here where people are chronically getting asthma flairs or other baseline lung issues,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cI mean we see lung problems but we don\u2019t see a ton.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly went on to say that he and Karen may not see as many patients with breathing complications related to high altitude because the patients \u201cself-select\u201d out, moving to lower elevation.<\/p>\n
However, two problems not necessarily related to living at high altitude Kelly and Karen have seen include chronic substance abuse and cost barriers to health care.<\/p>\n
According to the most recent regional health assessment, substance abuse was determined one of the top health concerns across the region. The assessment also shows cost of health care and insurance as a reason some people in the valley do not seek the health care they may need.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have conversations with the patients about OK, does your insurance pay for this and say it may be cheaper to do it this way,\u201d Karen said. \u201cWe\u2019ll steer people to the least expensive route when possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Overall, the Lockes said they feel the active lifestyle and health conscious culture has contributed to making the Roaring Fork Valley a predominately healthy place to live and to raise their four children.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing that once the kids left the door that some of the things you tried to instill in them would also be instilled by the teachers of the school or by other people in the community because we all have similar values made us feel reassured,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n
For two of the Locke kids, these key values ingrained in them by their parents and valley locals include living an active lifestyle and having an appreciation for the natural world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a lot of the individuals graduating from Aspen High School have a better appreciation for the outdoors and for spending as much time outside as they can, which I think has ultimately a significant positive impact on their health,\u201d said Liam Locke, a junior studying neuroscience and biochemistry at Darmouth College in New Hampshire.<\/p>\n
Both Liam and his younger sister, Kira, noted specifically the Aspen School District\u2019s outdoor education program as contributing to their desire to recreate outdoors and the Aspen area culture inspiring them to lead active lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis environment is really healthy for me, I like that it\u2019s a rural area where everyone knows each other and there\u2019s so much to do,\u201d Kira, an eighth-grader at Aspen Middle School said. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine being anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
But this more active lifestyle hasn\u2019t just impacted Kira, her siblings and her parents. It\u2019s also impacted her grandparents.<\/p>\n
About four years ago, Marilyn and John started living full time in Basalt. The retired couple said they\u2019ve noticed the healthy, active culture of the Roaring Fork Valley and have quickly become a part of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve made a lot of progress with our health I think since we\u2019ve been out here. We can hike longer and we can do hills, whereas before we only did the flat areas,\u201d Marilyn said, referring to their previous home in Texas.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the emphasis on health out here I think I do get out and hike more than I would have back home,\u201d John added. \u201cI probably would be more sedentary if it weren\u2019t for the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
John and Marilyn feel there are lots of opportunities for them as a retired couple, and for their grandchildren as younger adults in the valley. Neither they nor Kelly and Karen said they really feel the youngest Lockes are missing out on much growing up in Basalt and Aspen, expect for the experiences that come with traveling to other places, nationally or internationally.<\/p>\n
But even then, John and Marilyn, who have made multiple trips around the world in recent years, said they can\u2019t imagine calling anywhere else home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe travel quite a bit now that we\u2019re retired and we always say at the end of our trip, let\u2019s go home,\u201d Marilyn said, laughing. \u201cWe can\u2019t think of a better place, the Roaring Fork Valley is where we want to live.\u201d<\/p>\n