There are currently about 8 million people in the United States with PTSD. Even though PTSD treatments work, most people who have PTSD don't get the help they need. Help spread the word that effective PTSD treatments are available. Everyone with PTSD—whether they are veterans or civilian survivors of sexual assault, serious accidents, natural disasters, or other traumatic events—needs to know that treatments really do work and can lead to a better quality of life. The National Center for PTSD has great resources for you to use and share.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, men with mental illnesses are less likely to receive mental health treatment, and men are more likely to die by suicide than women. Recognizing the signs that you or someone you know may have a mental disorder is the first step toward getting treatment. 

Learn more on the National Institute of Mental Health men and mental health topic page and download a free brochure on men and depression. 

Men with mental illnesses are less likely to have received mental health treatment than women in the past year. If you or someone you know has a mental illness, learn how to get help.

The Colorado Farm Bureau along with the Department of Agriculture and other partners have announced the launch of the Agricultural Addiction & Mental Health Program (CAAMHP). The CAAMHP is intended to support the farming and ranching community in Colorado by offering six free sessions with an ag friendly, licensed behavioral health professional. It’s anonymous and, in many cases, can be accessed remotely. Learn more about the program on the CAAMHP website. If you are interested in being a provider, click here.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture has a webpage that provides rural mental health resources, as well as the Farm Crisis Center.

When the covid-19 pandemic forced behavioral health providers to stop seeing patients in person and instead hold therapy sessions remotely, the switch produced an unintended, positive consequence: Fewer patients skipped appointments. Click here for the entire story.

303-369-0039 ext. 213 or KHughes@peerassistanceservices.org

Please feel free to print these materials and share them with patients and staff. Contact Vincent Plymell (DOI) at Vincent.Plymell@state.co.us with any questions about these brochures.  

It is a dynamic time for telehealth advancement in our state and nation. The Office of eHealth Innovation and Prime Health launched Regional Telehealth Learning Collaboratives to collect insights that will create a set of strategies and recommendations for statewide telehealth infrastructure. The office needs input from health care leaders around Colorado. Please consider taking this 20-minute survey to share information about telehealth in your practice as well as your own experiences with telehealth.

Contact the Program Manager, Katrina Chaffin, katrina@primeheathco.com for questions regarding the survey. 

Beginning May 17, 2021 requests for authorization for 3.2WM levels of care will be submitted and approved through ProviderConnect. ProviderConnect is Beacon Health Options provider portal which makes routine tasks such as processing claims, obtaining claims information, and verifying status easy and convenient. You can access ProviderConnect from the Health Colorado website or Beacon Health Options website.

Each year Health Colorado, Inc. (HCI) is required by the State of Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) and Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG) to conduct an annual chart audit to ensure accuracy of submitted claims and encounters. Audit procedures require a random sample of client medical records to be reviewed from Community Mental Health Centers and independent providers who were PAID the previous fiscal year.

In preparation for next year’s audit, this notice is to advise you there are updated 411 Training materials on the Health Colorado website.

411 Powerpoint presentation and 411 Full Tip Sheet can be accessed here: Health Colorado Provider Trainings

For more information, call 833-511-0311 or visit GetEmergencyBroadband.org/how-to-apply.

OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF PLAYBOOK

The Office of Early Childhood is thrilled to share the highly anticipated PLAYbook with you!

The PLAYbook contains information and activities that anyone caring for young children – including parents, siblings, guardians, grandparents, babysitters, neighbors, and family friends - can use to prepare children to be successful when entering kindergarten. The PLAYbook contains activities and information that are designed to get caregivers thinking about building the child’s skills in the locations where they spend time together, using what they may already have around their home through play.

Here you will find a digital version of the PLAYbook in English and Spanish to review and share. The PDF file is interactive, allowing users to take notes or use the checklists and interactive tools digitally! The PLAYbook can also be downloaded and printed.

A communication toolkit has been developed to help you spread the word on The PLAYbook with those who care for young children. Thank you for your commitment and partnership in ensuring Colorado’s children are valued, healthy and thriving!

For more information, contact amanda.culbertson@state.co.us.

The Office of Early Childhood (OEC) is currently accepting member interest forms for the OEC Family Voice Council! Please share the interest form and the flyers (in English and Spanish) with parents and caregivers in your network.

For more information, contact amanda.culbertson@state.co.us.

For vaccine information from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, visit this webpage.

RAE ROUNDTABLE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH---2nd Fri of every month at 11am

Please click here to join the webinar:

Visit the HCI website for details on previous calls.

SUD EXPANDED BENEFIT PROVIDER FORUM--3rd Tues of every month at 10am

Please click here to join the webinar:

Visit the HCI website for details on previous calls.

Join Beacon and Anthem's behavioral health panelists as they provide insights about the findings of the inaugural report, State of the Nation's Mental Health. The webinar will provide a national context to help healthcare organizations and other stakeholders make decisions at the local level. Attendees will learn about the populations most and least affected by the pandemic; the dominant diagnoses; and what these findings suggest we do to improve behavioral health services in post-pandemic years.

Beacon Health Options' Quality Team is hosting a Zoom training on Mental Health and SUD documentation. Please view the link below and share with appropriate staff.

Personality disorders are common and pervasive mental health conditions across many clinical settings. However, the basic facts about personality disorders, including their development, etiology, and varied symptom presentation, are often not highlighted.

Hear from a rural health provider who will share an overview of the mental health and recovery services workforce shortage in rural communities, strategies for increasing the rural mental health and recovery services workforce and for supporting wellness and training needs of rural health staff, and also success stories of rural health workforce opportunities.

This presentation will focus on casual biopsychosocial factors influencing the development of PTSD in female veterans. Effective treatments for women will be discussed with an emphasis on addressing stress reactive processes specific to female veterans.

The National Institute of Mental Health is hosting a livestream event featuring NIMH-funded researcher Barbara Rothbaum, Ph.D., ABPP, professor of psychiatry and associate vice chair of clinical research at the Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Rothbaum is also the executive director of the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program and Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program. 

Click here to watch on demand.