Our Community Broadcasting Network (OCBN)

Welcome to Our Community Broadcasting Network. Having been involved in public affairs broadcasting and community activism in the greater Denver area since 1999, I became aware of the many issues impacting the families that make up the metro Denver community. In 2019, I decided to use my broadcasting experience to create OCBN, an online broadcasting network, to present issues important to these various, diverse communities. Past programs covered important topics such as healthy lifestyle living, DEI (diversity, equity & inclusion), brain health, education, family caregiving, and more. These programs can be viewed on the Archived Programs page.

With mental health and substance use disorders having a major impact on communities throughout Colorado, I have turned my focus to getting information to the public featuring innovative practices in delivering services and patient/family support programs that help mitigate mental health and substance use disorders and improve behavioral health (BH) outcomes. As defined by the American Medical Association (AMA), "Behavioral health generally refers to mental health and substance use disorders, life stressors and crises, and stress-related physical symptoms. Behavioral healthcare refers to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of those conditions.”

Through collaborations with key behavioral health experts and community stakeholders, I have created a podcast series titled Behavioral Health Best Practices that highlight mental health/substance abuse treatment providers, mental health/substance abuse prevention and support groups, behavioral health community abvocates, and behavioral health government agencies that are utilizing best practices in creating and maintaining behavioral health programs and initiatives that support the community. OCBN invites any behavioral health professionals and advocates to join the initiative to contribute content as guest presenters and/or to offer resource information.

I am pleased to announce a partnership has been established with the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration. OCBN's Behavioral Health Best Practices series is producing podcasts with interviews of departmental experts discussing the functions and policy positions of the BHA. There will also be podcast interviews with grantees about their behavioral health programs being funded by the BHA. The partnership will promote the programs through our respective networks to the public-at-large as behavioral health informational and educational resources for their communities.

A Behavioral Health Best Practices YouTube Podcast channel has been created. To subscribe to the channel and get notifications whenever a new podcast is posted, click on the YouTube logo below and the link will take you to the channel.

For more information about the Behavioral Health Best Practices initiative, please fill out the Contact Form and I will contact you to answer your questions and to discuss any involvement in the initiative you may be interested in. I am currently working with a number of behavioral health experts to continually add to the series. I hope you find these interviews interesting and informative and thank you for your interest in the Behavioral Health Best Practices initiative!

Best regards,

Current Behavioral Health Best Practices video podcast. For all BHBP programs go to the BHBP Podcasts tab

The Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) is the state administration responsible for ensuring all people in Colorado have access to quality mental health and substance use disorder services, regardless of where they live, or ability to pay. BHA will help bring together community groups and governmental agencies to design a behavioral health system for all people in Colorado that is easy to access, and offers high-quality care that considers the whole person and their needs. As required by Colorado law, the BHA was to create a performance monitoring system to track capacity and performance of all behavioral health providers, including those that contract with managed care entities or behavioral health administrative services organizations, and inform of needed changes to the behavioral health system in the state. For more information about the BHA or to access the Performance Hub visit: https://bha.colorado.gov/ - to contact the Performance Hub Team via email: cdhs_bha_performancehub@state.co.us

Our Community Broadcasting Network Supporters

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