EMPATHIC CARE PLUS
IMPROVING LIVES TOGETHER
Empathic Care Plus is a community care agency that partners with families, Health institutions, and Social Services Support organizations to deliver high-quality health and wellness services.
Why Empathic Care Plus
✔ Excellent Pay
Get the pay you deserved
✔ Flexible Scheduling
Enjoy a flexible schedule based on your needs, Calendar and shift duration
✔ Choose your Assignments
Have control over work and life balance while you work in an environment that helps you to thrive
✔ Apply now and stay connected forever
Once applied, you’ll forever have access to opportunities at unlimited locations. For example, select to work with our partner hospitals, group homes, day programs, community one-on-one etc., of your choice.
✔ Gain Diverse Experience
Expand your horizon and grow your skillset with an opportunity to work in a variety of Healthcare and Specialized Care organizational settings across the Greater Toronto Area and the nearby town.
Social Workers
Behavior Science
Social Service Worker
Developmental Service Worker
Child & Youth Worker
Early Childhood Education
Companionship
Community Justices
Criminology
Personal Support Worker
Personalized Services &
Support
Behavioral Support
We are dedicated to providing excellence service quality, with our trained and qualified staff in all clinical specialties (i.e., ER, ICU, Behavioral Health, OB/GYN, Telemetry, PACU, Pediatrics, Long Term Care, OR/Surg, etc.).
We offer a variety of highly sought-after positions for RNs, RPN’s, Healthcare Aides and other professionals in some of the most reputed healthcare institutions in the Greater Toronto Area. Nurses seeking new and exciting experiences have the opportunity of choosing travel nursing, per diem, long or short-term assignments across Canada.
At Empathic Care Plus, we respect and value individual contributions and fully support each person’s professional goals.
WE LOOK FOR TO YOUR PARTNERSHIP!
Key Eligibility Requirements
- Must hold a Bachelor’s degree, a College Diploma or Post-Secondary Education and or related credentials in Healthcare & Social Work-related fields
- Associates must have a minimum of 2 years of related experience
- Demonstrated extensive knowledge and experience in specialized services in Autism, Developmental Services, Mental Health, Youth Justice, and Educational Behaviour Supports.
- Ministry approved training under Crisis Prevention/Training Technique, Safe Management, UMAB or related
- Must have an updated Criminal Record Check (Vulnerable Sector Check)
- Demonstrates excellent interpersonal communication, organizational and documentation skills
- Regular review of service with a service coordinator
- Health and Medical Screening process
- Proof of Covid 19 Vaccination
What Is Behavioral Science & How Does It Relate to Public Health?
In their quest to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life, public health experts study and apply specialized concepts to address public health issues. These concepts range from environmental health, to biostatistics, to epidemiology.
Social and behavioral sciences also play a role in public health. In fact, that role is essential. Understanding what behavioral science is, and knowing how to apply it, offers an important tool for those who develop public health initiatives. Behavioral science aims to better understand human behavior and the driving forces behind it.
What Is Social and Behavioral Science?
Social and behavioral science is the study of how human behavior impacts personal thoughts, decisions, interactions, and actions. A developed understanding of human behavior can serve as a powerful tool for those who wish to influence people’s health choices.
For example, many chronic diseases are the result of personal behaviors. By addressing those behaviors, many leading risk factors for illnesses can be prevented or controlled.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that one in three adults has high blood pressure, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Changing a personal behavior to eat less sodium can lower high blood pressure.
By examining what influences people’s decisions about their sodium consumption, public health professionals can better address an important health risk factor. They can also examine other disease risk factors brought on or aggravated by people’s behaviors, then use behavioral health science to encourage people to make healthier choices.
Activity levels, diet, alcohol use, sleeping habits, seatbelt use: all of these factors and many more affect people’s well-being. It helps to understand the psychology and other motivations behind people’s actions. With such knowledge, public health professionals can develop strategic initiatives that shift people’s choices and behaviors, and ultimately improve their health.
Influences on Behavior
Many factors influence people’s choices. Social and behavioral scientists study factors such as the following.
Psychological Influences. Factors such as motivation can determine what a person chooses to do or not do. Unmet needs tend to motivate people into action and affect their behavior. A belief in one’s ability to achieve a task also plays a role in influencing choices and behavior.
Behavioral influences. People’s values, their assessment of risk, the extent to which a choice conflicts with their beliefs or attitudes, and their culture can all play a role in how people behave and the choices they make.
Biological Influences. Factors such as age, sex, and genetics can influence people’s behavior and emotions. For example, people inherit characteristics that influence behavior traits such as impulsiveness or reticence.
Societal Influences. People may change their behavior and ideas to fit into a social group. People may also shift their decisions or attitudes to meet the demands of their own social roles or perceived authority.
The Role of Psychology and Neuroscience
The fields of psychology and neuroscience contribute important insights into human behavior and why people think and feel certain ways.
Psychology offers many theories that shed light on human behavior. These theories explore topics including the stages of human development and social conditioning. Different stages of cognitive and physical development can influence how people are likely to think and act. This offers useful information for those working to design programs that effectively speak to people at different points in their lives.
Social conditioning theories, on the other hand, can lend understanding to how people develop behaviors through building associations, as well the role of “rewards” and “punishments” in influencing behaviors.
Additionally, public health professionals can apply the insights of psychology to understanding people’s perceptions and the social dynamics that influence people’s behavior.
Neuroscience, which focuses on the brain’s influence on behavior and thinking, can also help public health experts understand human behavior. This multidisciplinary science has shown the importance of brain functions in affecting people’s emotions, thoughts, and actions.
Behavioral neuroscience, for instance, explores the interplay between the brain, a person’s environment, and behavior. In this way, it offers insight into how to best assess, predict, and influence human behavior. Public health professionals can benefit from neuroscience research that helps explain the neurobiology of issues they address, including the following.
- Trauma
- Addiction
- Anxiety
- Bipolar disorder
- Epilepsy
- Autism
- Aging
Which Disciplines Are Included in the Field of Behavioral Science?
Behavioral science is a broad field, with many disciplines under its umbrella that all address human actions in some way. Regardless of the discipline, any area that seeks to understand the connection between the human mind and behavior relies on the study of behavioral science.
What Are Some Behavioral Science Examples?
Behavioral scientists study many types of health issues across many types of populations. After conducting their research and gathering data, they analyze and communicate their findings. Behavioral scientists search for a better understanding of many problems that are particularly relevant to public health professionals, including:
- Health risks
- Anxiety disorders
- Substance abuse
- Violence
- Trauma
- Stress
- Personality disorders
- Depression
Clinical solutions to health issues matter. Important questions like who will trust the science behind a vaccine and under what circumstances, also matter. Social science can deliver some of the answers to such questions. For example, in the COVID-19 pandemic, social scientists are researching questions that are key to the work of public health experts, such as:
- What motivates people to wear or not wear masks during a pandemic?
- How does COVID-19 affect people differently based on their socioeconomic backgrounds?
Behavioral Science and COVID-19
Alice Fothergill, a sociologist and disaster researcher, is studying how social isolation during the pandemic affects children and seniors. Her work strives to better understand the public health crisis to reduce suffering in the future when disasters unfold. Fothergill’s research involves engaging the elderly and children in journal writing, and keeping detailed descriptions of their daily schedules while in social isolation.
Public Health and Behavioral Science
Public health issues such as preventable diseases, obesity, and mental health problems have significant behavioral components. This creates a strong connection between behavioral science and public health.
Social and behavioral sciences help illuminate public health concerns, and therefore can play a critical role in achieving public health goals. By applying behavioral science to public health challenges, those in the field can more successfully reduce health inequities, prevent disease, and promote health.
Additionally, behaviors that contribute to several public health challenges are closely linked to social determinants of health — the conditions in which people grow up, work, and live. Obesity, a risk factor for both diabetes and heart disease, for example, can result from poor eating habits. Poor eating habits can result from living in food deserts, which are areas that have little access to affordable fresh food.
Public health seeks to address the social determinants of health that create health inequities and prevent people from achieving their optimal health. The field also strives to implement community interventions. As a result, public health experts have focused more and more on disciplines such as sociology, political science, and anthropology.
Applying Behavioral Science to Public Health
Public health professionals study behavioral science research and data to understand public health issues that affect individuals. In this way, they learn about behavioral science-based interventions that can help prevent persistent health concerns such as sexually transmitted diseases, heart disease, and cancer. They also address issues such as homelessness, substance abuse, and mental health.
Public health professionals then apply this knowledge to promote health awareness and prevent disease in the communities they serve.
For example, public health professionals who are tackling homelessness among urban youth can develop programs that are informed by behavioral science research. Some research shows that low executive functioning (memory, self-control, flexible thinking) increases high-risk behavior among homeless adolescents. Knowing this enables public health professionals to design programs that identify youth with low executive functioning. Additionally, it helps them target interventions for curbing young people’s risky or dangerous behaviors.
Public health professionals can also apply behavioral science to promote sexual health. For example, they can research behavior change techniques that are effective for sexual health issues based on behavioral science. They can then integrate those techniques into programs to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
The takeaway
Behaviour Science is an important part of our system. Given the wide range of possibilities for them in the field, as well as their broad scope of practice, they are a valuable addition to any healthcare team.
Partner with a community care agency that offers exceptional services and recruitment solutions to help families, Health institutions, and Social Services Support organizations to deliver high-quality health and wellness services.
Empathic Care Plus fosters long-term relationships with organizational partners while providing placement opportunities to highly skilled and qualified professionals in healthcare (Nurses & Healthcare Aides) and diverse Social Work fields (SW, SSW, DSW, CYW etc.) around the Greater Toronto Area and nearby towns.
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IMPROVING LIVES TOGETHER
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