Shawnee Health Service is proud to celebrate National Health Center Week 2020 from August 9 – August 15. National Health Center Week is an annual celebration with the goal of raising awareness about the mission and accomplishments of America’s health centers over the past five decades. National Health Center Week 2020 will be celebrated both in person and virtually this year, elevating the work that Community Health Centers have done while fighting on the front lines of COVID-19 to keep our communities healthy and safe.
Shawnee Health Service provides integrated primary medical and behavioral health care, dental care, and specialty care to southern Illinoisans regardless of ability to pay. Community Health Centers, like Shawnee Health Service, are not just healers, we are innovators who look beyond medical charts to address the factors that may cause poor health, such as poverty, homelessness, substance use, mental illness, lack of nutrition, and unemployment.
While COVID-19 continues to exacerbate social and medical inequities across the country, Community Health Centers have stretched themselves to reconfigure services for those in need. Shawnee Health Service has pivoted to serving our community through telehealth, drive-through COVID-19 testing with interpretation services on site, and distribution of emergency resources, while still ensuring our patients can access the medical care that they need.
Since its inception in 1971, Shawnee Health Service has worked to improve the health and welfare of southern Illinois residents through the promotion, development and administration of quality, comprehensive health and social services. Shawnee Health Service believes that quality health care is a right, and continuously strives to ensure that patients receive the highest quality health care without regard to age, race, religion, sex, financial status, or where they live.
May is Mental Health Month
Shawnee Health Service recognizes May as Mental Health Month. This May for Mental Health Month, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is raising awareness and highlighting that no one experiencing a mental health condition should feel alone. More than 40 million people in the U.S. face the day-to-day reality of living with a mental health condition. And now more than ever, in these uncertain times, it is important for the mental health movement to come together.
Shawnee Health Service’s Behavioral Health Counseling team has not slowed down since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in mid-March, the team made more than 400 calls a week to patients to offer support. Since then, the team has rapidly responded to the need for telehealth, transitioning all face-to-face counseling appointments to phone or video.
Using evidence-based methods, Behavioral Health Counselors assist patients in identifying goals and taking manageable steps to improve their overall health. During this pandemic, people’s mental and physical problems have not gone away. For some patients, needs have intensified. Here are some tips that we discuss with patients, which may be useful for all of us during this time:
Identify your “triggers.” Do you know what causes you to feel more anxious or depressed? Is it certain times of day or after a type of interaction? Try to pay attention to your mood throughout the day and take note.
Many patients have identified the news and social media as a source of stress. There is some evidence to support that more time spent on social media actually . makes people feel more depressed! If you want to stay informed, limit the number of times you check in or the length of time you are watching/listening to new information.
Identify ways of coping that work for you. What makes you feel better or at least feel more neutral? Try going for a walk, talking with a friend, getting exercise, or reading/ watching something funny. The field of positive psychology and addiction treatment support gratitude lists as a way to lift mood. Despite what may be going wrong, what things in your day/life are you grateful for?
Give yourself permission to have some rough days. “Radical acceptance” is part of an evidence-based treatment model that involves accepting life on life’s terms and not resisting what you cannot or choose not to change.
Shawnee Health Service wants to remind all of our patients that we are here for you. We are available by telephone or through video conferencing. You are not alone.
Since its inception in 1971, Shawnee Health Service has worked to improve the health and welfare of southern Illinois residents through the promotion, development and administration of quality, comprehensive health and social services. Shawnee Health Service believes that quality health care is a right, and continuously strives to ensure that patients receive the highest quality health care without regard to age, race, religion, sex, financial status, or where they live.
Shawnee Health Service is continuing operations during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of our commitment to our patients and clients who count on us for their safety and wellbeing.
Shawnee Alliance receives COVID-19 grant for older adults 60+ with unmet needs
Shawnee Alliance, the social services division of Shawnee Health Service, has received an Emergency Assistance Services grant from Illinois Department on Aging in response to COVID-19. These funds will be used to assist older adults 60+ with unmet needs related to COVID-19 and isolation. Older adults 60+ in Shawnee Alliance’s 18-county service area are eligible for this assistance.
These unmet needs may include, but are not limited to:
- Nutritional needs
- Personal care and sanitation needs
- Personal medical care needs
- Transportation services
Counties in Shawnee Alliance’s service area which are eligible for assistance include: Alexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, Wabash, Wayne, White, and Williamson.
Shawnee Alliance can submit requests to use funds for needs other than these pre-approved areas.
If you would like to request assistance, please call Shawnee Alliance at (618) 985-8322 or toll free at 1-800-642-7773. Requests can be submitted by phone only.
Click here for more information about older adults and COVID-19.