21 Jun Ways People Who Work In Behavioral Health Services Are Helping To Create Healthier Communities

While some individuals in a community may never get the sniffles, the community itself is only as healthy as its least privileged person. To create healthy, thriving societies, members must lift one another up and care for each other in ways that matter. In a very real sense, behavioral health services professionals do exactly that. By dedicating their careers to children and adults with intellectual disabilities, these devoted people strengthen their entire communities.

Caring For The Future

Many behavioral health services professionals work with children that have developmental differences. These children will go on to shape the future in their communities. They will work, live, and sometimes even raise families near their childhood homes. They will make others smile and make decisions that affect their communities. A large part of this is thanks to the behavioral health specialists that helped them in their youth. There’s hardly a better way to impact the future than to lift children up.

Diversifying The Workforce

Many adults with developmental disabilities have talent and drive that can help businesses in a community thrive. When these adults are given the chance to excel in a fulfilling job, they can diversify the workforce in a community. As such, these workers offer unique perspectives and ideas that can strengthen the business and contribute to the community in unexpected ways.

Saving Resources

It’s an unfortunate fact, but governments and nonprofits have limited resources with which they can promote healthy communities. Untreated mental illness and developmental disabilities can cost communities millions of dollars in lost productivity. Furthermore, not helping those with disabilities can mean spending more money on care and emergency treatments in the long run.

Instead, behavioral health services professionals can help people with disabilities live productive, happy, fairly independent lives. In turn, more resources can be spent on helping others within the community and furthering important causes.

Setting An Example

Perhaps the most important way to create a healthier community is to set an example of what a great member looks like. Behavioral health services professionals do so in several ways. First, dedicating their careers to the service of others shows compassion that most communities could use. Furthermore, showing others the way to a healthy life can have a ripple effect on the whole community.

For example, one behavioral health services professional may give a patient a tip on managing daily stress. When that person’s friends are in need, he may pass along the same advice. Each of these friends may pass it along to a loved one, and so on and so forth until the community is generally better at managing stress.

Working in behavioral health services can be worthwhile in plenty of ways. Perhaps one of the less-obvious rewards is that you can make your community a better, healthier place for everyone.

Pathways of Pennsylvania has been serving communities in Pennsylvania since 1981. Every individual has a right to lead a meaningful and positive life, and we are changing lives, one day at a time. Pathways of Pennsylvania is comprised of four companies: Children’s Behavioral Health, Inc., Pathways Community Services, LLC, Raystown Developmental Services, Inc., and The ReDCo Group, Inc.