In late September, I was fortunate enough to attend an Executive Leadership retreat in Gettysburg, Pa. It was my first visit to this area and the history surrounding the Battle of Gettysburg was incredibly moving. While the retreat was built around the management lessons that could be taken from those three days in 1863, there were several presentations about challenges being dealt with in the healthcare industry including Behavioral Health.
There were some interesting ties to how the government spends money and the impact of the Civil War. One thing that struck me was that nearly 40% of the federal budget in the 1890’s provided resources including medical supports to veterans from the Civil War. A comment was made that even as far back as then we had a problem with how we finance healthcare for those who deserved services. I’m not going to research this, but will take the presenter at his word.
While the presentation moved from historical lessons to challenges today dealing with healthcare costs and appropriate services, the discussion moved to the importance of dealing with behavioral healthcare costs given it is considered a driver of current spending. Interesting to note, while it is estimated that only 5-7% of healthcare costs are spent on Behavioral Health, the crossover as it relates to other medical problems is what has professionals in this field paying close attention.
I must admit that while I knew the topic of Behavioral Health was broad, I really didn’t know how broad it was. I also didn’t know that in other countries the subject is referred to as Mental Health. However, what was shared is that Behavioral Health involves about 300 different diagnoses that can be broken down into two broad categories… Mental Health disorders and Substance Abuse Disorders. Clearly it is not a single disease or condition.
Key challenges exist in dealing with this. First, 22% of our population has a diagnosable disorder, as the #1 disorder is depression. It was noted that having a disorder doesn’t mean you can’t function, as a fair amount of time was dedicated to the widespread stigma that is tagged to a mental health disorder. These stigmas create barriers to care, as if people are afraid to come forward, resources won’t be made available, and it was stated that the lack of available resources to help others is a real challenge to overcome.
Little Friends does do work in Behavioral Health with our clinic supporting Autism. Learning more about the breadth of diagnoses in the different categories, there is more to do to help others improve upon their quality of life and overall longevity.
Intertwined into the presentation was clarity on how our work and others affects the Quality of Life for those being served. The clarity of a statement struck me, stating that “those in this field of support help individuals overcome challenges that improve an individual’s resilience, help build and maintain relationships, provide guidance and support to help and individual make proper choices, and learn how to manage and control behaviors.” If we can help do this, it can lead to a lot of good things for all involved!
One last comment related to my visit to Gettysburg. While we all study history in school, I came away with an incredible appreciation for what the men and women during that battle that changed the course of the Civil War. It is worth the time to visit, as it will be something you likely will never forget.
