The Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Colorado has established a new local office to provide free, confidential counseling to anyone with questions about Medicare.

The office is located at 3001 S. Lincoln Ave., Suite E, and the local phone number is 970-819-6401.

The office is available by appointment.

For more information, contact Betsy Packer at 970-819-6401 or medicareship@gmail.com.

Crisis support lines available

A variety of crisis support lines are available 24 hours a day to connect local residents dealing with a personal mental health or other type of crisis with trained professionals or volunteers who can provide support.

They include the following.

• Reaching Everyone Preventing Suicide (REPS) 24-hour crisis line: 970-846-8182
• Advocates Building Peaceful Communities 24-hour crisis line: 970-879-8888
• Mind Springs Health 24-hour crisis line: 1-888-207-4004
• Colorado's mental health crisis line: 1-844-493- 8255,

In the event of an emergency, dial 911.

Share your healthy recipes with the Steamboat Today

The Steamboat Today publishes simple, healthy recipes in the Yampa Valley Health section of the newspaper on Monday. Anyone who has a recipe that is easy-to-fix and made from commonly found ingredients is welcome to share it with the paper. Forget the fussy soufflé or the dish requiring fenugreek seeds, we're looking for basic recipes that will inspire people to cook. Email recipes to Karen Massey at karen.massey@colostate.edu or send them to Massey at the Routt County Extension Office, P.O. Box 772830, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477.

Support available to quit tobacco

Smoking cigarettes or using smokeless tobacco can have serious, potentially fatal, heath consequences. Tobacco cessation support can significantly improve a person's chances of quitting for good. The Colorado QuitLine provides cessation phone or online support for people who want to quit smoking or using smokeless tobacco. Free nicotine patches and gum are available. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit coquitline.org. Smokefree TXT provides personalized text message support for people who want to quit smoking. Sign up at smokefree.gov.

To submit a health brief, email jpatterson@steamboattoday.com.