Local StoriesSeptember 1, 2022

Daily Inspiration: Meet Leslie Bravo

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leslie Bravo.

Hi Leslie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am an entrepreneur, Founder & President at For A Better Day Foundation (FABD), CEO at Medical Essentials (Me*), and Co-Founder & CEO at SoFlo Behavioral Health. I recognize the healthcare industry’s immense potential to offer innovating/new, exciting opportunities in the mental health space.

I believe that my passion for providing tools and resources to those afflicted by the stigma of mental illness inspired me to form “For A Better Day Foundation” a community-driven, 501c3 non-profit organization raising awareness, increasing access to mental health services and supporting the prevention of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Toxic Stress. As a Board member at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Co-Chair of the CFF South Florida Finest Chapter for 2 years, I was essential to many community campaigns. Also, I am currently collaborating with the Designers and Creative Teams Against Domestic Violence Foundation as an Advisory Board member.

During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, I was blessed with the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with frontline workers in several locations to provide COVID testing, HIV testing, counseling, and linkage to services (including mental health treatment) directly to patients who typically experience barriers to accessing care. These most vulnerable members of our community were especially at risk during this challenging time, and I was grateful to be able to help provide care directly to those in need. This experience motivated me to continue this work in partnership with other individuals who share this same passion. Now, with the collaboration from the For A Better Day Foundation and SoFlo Behavioral Health, we are building a program that will be sustainable for the long term and that will support those in desperate need of care.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Definitely, it has been a very challenging road. We have a lot to do to help people who suffer from mental or emotional health issues. Currently, there is a shortage of professionals in the healthcare space. This is not the only challenge, it is also very difficult to gain access to insurance networks including; private insurance, Medicaid and Medicare. In addition, many states are with a record deficit of their budgets, cutting prevention-trauma programs that in the long term, will be much more expensive. The direct or indirect cost of mental health problems constitutes one of the most expensive public health issues in the United States. Regardless, we are always actively creating community campaigns, outreach events, fundraising and willing to help all community-driven organization’s efforts.

I feel very grateful to have people close to me who are always supporting me: my family, friends, my team, Kiwanis Club Pompano Beach, Rotary Club Pompano, Palm Beach Department of Health HIV prevention Rob Scott, Palm Beach County Rehabilitation Teams-Mr. Houston Tate, Broward County Farm Bureau Mr. Fred Segal, Broward County Vice- Mayor Lamar Fisher, The New pelican Jay Ghanem, Executive Women Club my dear friend Chadia Ghanem, my amazing friend and selfless CMO Dr Ethan Anglemyer, Dr. Violet L Howard among many others.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
At SoFlo Behavioral Health, we offer both standalone office-based psychiatric care as well as a dual diagnosis intensive outpatient program for the recovery treatments for substance abuse.

– What problem we solve: Access to quality care is a huge issue in this country. At SoFlo, we provide
access to high-quality care that is affordable, compassionate, and holistically focused.

– What sets us apart: Our focus on the patient as a whole person, our commitment to putting the needs of the patient first before profits.

– What are you most proud of: Having the ability to work on something that I’m very passionate about, providing access to critical care for people who face significant challenges accessing care traditionally.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Today’s global mental health challenges have made it clear the need for players across the behavioral health landscape -including but not limited to both private and public insurers, care providers, employers, and government policymakers to innovate to better serve the behavioral health needs of people across the world. Doing so could not only address a pressing social challenge but also improve health care outcomes.

With that being said, we all face considerable challenges in addressing the large scope of the behavioral health crisis. Four challenges merit attention:

Gaps in clinical and scientific knowledge. Research into understanding behavioral health disorders is still an emerging phase. Consumers are often recommended treatments on-trial-error basis, and consumers are often unclear about the actions needed to address their behavioral health.
Stigma and drivers of health. Stigma standing in the way of individuals seeking care.
Ineffectual and sub-scale care systems. Unaffordable and inaccessible care systems across the world.
Siloed health care data management. Data sharing can be imperfect across available data sources and the sources for behavioral health information are not interoperable to support clinicians’ decision-making and other insights and data is not interoperable across users and systems. Because of stigma, behavioral health challenges may be underreported even when data is available.

We believe there are six disruption factors that will drive meaningful change in the future of behavioral health.
1. Cultural and behavioral change will lessen the stigma associated with behavioral health due to an increase in government investment and employer emphasis.

Scientific and technological advancements in our understanding of genetics, neuroscience, endocrinology, and other relevant fields will lead to more thorough knowledge of behavioral health and effective treatments.
Increased access to care will occur due to the spread of virtual care and the use of AI to deliver more customized solutions.
A more robust data-sharing environment will allow for proactive identification of behavioral health issues.
Similarly, interoperable data will support the sharing of diverse data types to better tailor behavioral health treatments thanks to a more complete understanding of a consumer’s behavioral health situation.
At the core of these changes is the consumer, who will be more empowered thanks to a greater choice of behavioral health treatment and a higher quality overall experience with behavioral health care.

The rise in critical behavioral health support and individualized treatments created opportunities for a new way of healthcare. We’re excited and proud to announce the arrival of SoFlo Behavioral Health.

SoFlo Behavioral Health is an enterprise featuring all aspects of wellness in mental health and recovery. Based in South Florida, SoFlo brings talented professionals together from many different areas of healthcare, along with the resources to provide empathetic, effective and timely mental health and addiction treatment.

|Our Team has experience and backgrounds in large, complex industries such as biotech, pharmaceutical, clinical laboratory, recovery & substance abuse, finance, marketing and the non-profit sector.

|OUR MISSION
We seek to provide Individualized, customized, comprehensive mental health and substance abuse therapy services to support patients in overcoming their most difficult challenges

| OUR APPROACH
We take a holistic approach to behavioral health, offering treatment and resources to support your wellness journey which are comprehensive and designed to lead you to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

| OUR PROGRAM
We will guide you each step of the way, from medical detox to treatment and recovery, family counseling, aftercare and beyond. We are here for you. Our goal is your total health and wellness and supporting you on your journey to recovery.

| OUR EXPERTISE
We are a group of healthcare professionals and administrators with decades of combined experience in psychiatry and substance abuse treatment. Our team brings together the requisite knowledge, expertise and passion to offer you only the highest quality of care.

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