Behavioral Health

For decades, behavioral health has been an afterthought.  An estimated 44 million adults live with a mental illness, yet nearly 60% don’t receive treatment in a given year.  There is a growing body of evidence that directly links behavioral and physical health.  CHN is committed to treating the whole person.

Community HealthNet (CHN) Health Centers is dedicated to improving health and ensuring patient satisfaction by offering state-of-the art treatment modalities.  CHN is recognized at the state and national levels for providing integrated care services and is dedicated to promoting health, preventing disease, and managing chronic illness.  The full integration of Behavioral Health services at all CHN clinics is facilitated by recognition of the importance of collaborative primary health and behavioral healthcare in the provision of quality services.  The discipline of Behavioral Medicine endorses a biopsychosocial model of health and illness.  The need for comprehensive and collaborative care has led to improved overall health outcomes for our patients.

CHN understands the relationship between behavior and health and the capacity of Behavioral Health staff to be the behavioral science experts and important change agents within its healthcare settings.  The practice paradigm focuses on a practitioner-scientist model and empirically supported treatments.  Behavioral health services are delivered, using an “integrative approach” and “ecological model” to foster collaboration across disciplines in the outpatient setting.  Behavioral Health practitioner meet with patients in exam rooms and are fully embedded into the primary care culture while providing direct consultative services to patients.  The Behavioral Health staff addresses social determinants of health and conducts behavioral assessments and strive to provide brief problem-focused, empirically supported interventions which include health promotion activities, specific psychological treatments, delivery of behavioral interventions, case management, medication consultations and substance treatment.  These activities often lead to treatment recommendations made to the primary care team to ensure provision of comprehensive services or referral to external services when indicated.  In addition, Behavioral Health staff also provide informal or indirect consultation in which they do not see the patient but guide a practitioner during the assessment and treatment process.  Finally, Behavioral Health staff also provide collaborative consultation in which they are present and integrated in the patient meeting with a clinician from another specialty and acts as an advocate for the patient.

Awards and Recognitions

• Deemed by HRSA as a Fully Integrated Primary and Behavioral Health Care Organization
• Approved Integrated Care Entity by Indiana Department of Mental Health and Addictions
• Approved by the University of Washington AIMS Center to Implement Collaborative Care for Vulnerable Perinatal Populations, Maternal Infant Dyad (MInD-I)
• One of Three Health Centers in Indiana to Receive SAMHSA’s Promoting Integration of Primary and Behavioral Health Care Grant through the Indiana State Department of Health
• Member of the PRAPARE Risk Stratification Learning Collaborative
• Presenter for PRAPARE Educational Session at NACHC’s Chicago Conference 2019