Integrating behavioral health

We’ve long understood the connection between physical and emotional health. A stressed person is less likely to get the nutrition and sleep they need to maintain physical well-being. A person with depression is less likely to engage in the activity and social connections needed to maintain good health.

Kinwell’s clinicians understand the relationship between physical and emotional health. That’s why we’ve integrated behavioral health into primary care. Every Kinwell patient has a behavioral health clinician (BHC) on their care team.

Treating difficult situations

Did you recently lose a job? Are you having communications conflicts with your partner? Has your list of to-dos become so full that the stress is no longer manageable? Have physical concerns multiplied? Are you seeing your primary care provider more frequently?

These are all areas where a behavioral health clinician can provide support. Your primary care physician (PCP) and your BHC work alongside one another, collaborating on your care and prioritizing your goals by addressing the underlying medical and behavioral causes.

Behavioral health generalists

By integrating behavioral and primary care, a BHC is not just supporting patients with depression or anxiety. BHCs help patients meet any behavioral health goal, such as getting restful sleep, losing weight, taking medications, lowering their blood pressure, quitting smoking, and communicating more effectively with their loved ones.

Behavioral health clinicians are considered generalists, and we see patients of all ages and walks of life. I have patients who need support with organization and focusing, regularly taking their blood pressure, working through obsessive compulsive symptoms, and dealing with major life changes such as divorce.

A team approach

Each morning, behavioral health clinicians huddle with PCPs and medical assistants to discuss the patients on that day’s schedule, their chief concerns, and if a behavioral health consult might be needed. By coordinating care, BHCs and PCPs can devise the best plan of action to meet each patient’s needs. This could include discussing the benefits of medication or more frequent follow-ups with the BHC. Time is set aside each day to consult with patients who have appointments with other members of their care team, so they can access needed behavioral support without having to return to the clinic on another day.

This discussion also includes celebrating the progress patients make on their health journey. We are overjoyed when patients meet their goals. Creating new behavioral health habits can be challenging for anyone, but BHCs aim to provide a collaborative approach as patients establish new habits. Each BHC appointment is approximately 30 minutes long and patients can choose to be seen in person or virtually.

If you are a Kinwell patient and would benefit by seeing a behavioral health clinician, schedule an appointment by calling 833-411-5469.

Justina McCray is a licensed mental health counselor with Kinwell’s Olympia clinic.