October 9, 2026- Mental health is closely linked to physical health – in fact, mental health conditions such as depression increase the risk for many types of chronic conditions including diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Comparably, the presence of chronic conditions can increase the risk for developing a mental health condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“The silos of ‘medical’ vs ‘psychiatric or mental’ health are truly artificial ones – human organisms are fully integrated,” said Hilja R. Ruegg, MD, Program Director of Family Medicine/Psychiatry Combined Training Program and Medical Director of Integrated Mental Health Care at UCHealth. “All aspects of health and well-being interact with one another, contributing to the human experience.”
Despite the role mental health plays in our overall well-being, traditional referral-based behavioral healthcare models are frequently fraught with long wait times and a general lack of care coordination between primary care and mental health care, leading to care fragmentation.
Dr. Megan A. Rock, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience at UCHealth, says that the integration of mental health care within primary care fundamentally increases patient access to care.
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