02/26/2026
Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the Community Health Needs Assessment Forum at Montana Tech after being a Key Informant for the survey. During the forum, the top 4 major problems identified for Butte-Silver Bow were 1.) Mental Health, 2.) Substance Use, 3.) Social Determinants of Health, and 4.) To***co Use, with Chronic Disease coming in 5th.
MSU Extension Butte-Silver Bow is proud to be a community partner addressing many of these concerns! Our MSU Extension Agent, Kellie Kahtani, is a certified instructor for Mental Health First Aid, Youth Mental Health First Aid, and Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) all addressing mental health and training participants how to respond when someone they know is in crisis. These classes are available to all members of the community!
Kellie also offers community classes to address chronic diseases such as physical wellness classes of Walk with Ease, Staying Active and Independent in Life (SAIL), and soon will be able to offer Tai Chi. Also to address chronic diseases, Kellie can offer food and nutrition classes such as Dining with Diabetes.
On the prevention stage, Kellie also has worked with Butte School District, Ramsay, and Divide Schools to offer Harvest of the Month- focusing on Montana-grown foods, healthy eating, and trying new foods.
Another area of concern that was addressed in the Forum was caregiver respite. We are excited to announce a Caregiver Respite Retreat, hosted by MSU Extension Butte-Silver Bow and MSU Extension's Gerontology Specialist, coming to Butte on April 7th. More information will be posted next week, including a flier and how to sign up.
If you are interested in learning more about any of these programs, please contact MSU Extension Butte-Silver Bow at (406)723-0217 or [email protected]
