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Economic and Political Events Related to Current Trends in the Human Services Field

Linh Sites, Angela Carkin, Ivory Williams, Erica Young

BSHS/305 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES: AN INTRODUCTION

09/29/2014 Ms. Chelie Saffeels

Human services is a big field in our world today and our world is forever changing. These trends are what makes our human services field continue to grow. As things change, need more people need help and this is where human services come into play. One common trend is income

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level. Income levels are always changing and some people determine they may need financial help. Geographical location is another trend. There are some areas that have more people who require human services more than others. Religion is also a trend, as many people from other parts of the world continue to move to the United States. Health is another trend that has an impact on the field of human services today. Income level is a huge demographic trend that will in fact influence the needs in the delivery of human services in the future. As some of us are aware income guidelines are starting and will continue to have huge effects on what kind of services will be allocated to our clients. It poses a huge concern for most human service professionals as many clients will become ineligible for different types of assistance. This makes it even more difficult for clients to receive adequate services that may be highly needed. One particular group of individuals are seniors. Mass Majority of seniors 65 and over live on a fixed income and when their income is examined it often gets looked at as they have a median income. When in fact the income in most cases is only enough to cover basic needs. ("Four Takeaways From Tuesday’s Census Income And Poverty Release", 2013). Leaving many demands to expand the need in the near future for Human Service professionals. The senior population needs more income for future cost and expenses. In such cases now if you don’t fall so far below in poverty, you usually don’t qualify for many services. This alone proves a demographic trend in the delivery of Human services. With the cost of living on the rise and individuals growing older this trend will influence our needs in delivery by not being able to help more clients in need. Less income leaves professionals with an even bigger problem on their hands. Clients are now in greater need of services that are not being met due to client not qualifying for assistance.

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Yes the demand for jobs have now started to rise, but under what circumstances? You are now having to hire more professionals to locate services for clients which may be even more of a challenge. As a Human service professional even though the client may not qualify for services within the agency you work for. You must still follow up and pursue other services with other agencies to make sure the client needs are in fact met. So as income may rise a little it still pretty much keeps Income level in the same brackets. Human Services needs depends a great deal on the appearance of the population in different geographical areas. Hefflin and Miller (2011) believe that the outline of human services may need to adjust depending on language barriers, cultural issues, transportation needs, low income, or low educational levels within different communities. Geographical location plays an important part in the services available, as some areas have more accessibility, than other areas; hence, the transportation concerns that clients may have. In today's economy, there has been a lot of strain on human services and what services are provided to clients. For example, state and federal funding has put an impact on human services agencies and created budget cuts that affected programs within the delivery system. The services that took a big hit from economic events were special programs needed to help those that may have language barriers, cultural issues, transportation needs, low income, or educational levels. In fact, the poorest countries are severely hindered because they are located in high mountain ranges; or they lack navigable rivers, long coastlines, or good natural harbors. (Sachs, J.D., 2005) Keeping up to date with the latest demographic trends will allow organizations to identify the specific needs based off their geographic area, and make those services available. Political events such as disasters can drastically affect human services needs as

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those who were affected by such events are in need of therapy and counseling. The emotional trauma caused by the disaster and anxiety about what will happen next can complicate and impede recovery. ("New Jersey Hope And Healing", n.d.). Same goes for those in the military,

when they experience a traumatic event while on active duty, most will suffer from PTSD, which eventually would need to be diagnosed by a human services professional. In both instances, it's not an issue of what geographic area you are in, the chances are the same that you will need the same therapy and counseling; however, they may not be easily obtainable due to transportation and low income within each area. Religion is big, especially in the United States. The United States contains people of all sorts of different religions. Every religion is different and it is important for human service professionals to learn about the religions of their clients. What one religion considers kind and helpful may be viewed as offensive to a client of a different religion. Human service professionals never want to offend their clients, especially unintentionally. This is why it is important to do research on the religion or even talk to the client about their religion if it is a religion the human service professional is unfamiliar with. As a human service professional, you may need to change the way you do some things with you clients based on their religion. You may also need to come up with some different treatment methods. For example, if your client is from a religion who happens to be against taking medication, you need to come up with a different way to help this client. This may include having to refer them to someone else who can help them without the use of medication (Woodside and McClam, 2012). Events such as the 9/11 attacks has also had an impact on religion and human services in the United States. After the attacks on 9/11, the government and the media have made people to believe that anyone who is a Muslim is a terrorist and is out to get the United States.

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We are seeing these same kinds of things today because of the Isis people. Many of the Muslims who live in the United States and are not the bad guys are frowned upon and even hated and sometimes beaten in their community simply because they are Muslims. This is hard on a person, and so they turn to human services for help on how to deal with such things, and maybe get treated for things such as depression. This is causing there to be a bigger need for human service professionals in areas that contain a significant amount of Muslims (Habjoua, 2014). Healthcare is a trend that also has a major impact in the human services field. One of the roles of the helper is to assist with health, safety, and the well being of the client. Individuals and families living in poverty rely on human services for health care needs; there is a large population that is not insured. A current trend in human health services delivery today is collaborating. Collaborating allows different agencies and faith community based organizations to join together in providing and assisting with different services. Collaborating with different health care agencies and organizations also provides many benefits for the client and the human service agency. Collaborating is known to be very cost effective, it also helps to strengthen and support the client and the workforce for the professional. In addition collaborating allows the helper to refer clients to agencies or organizations they are comfortable and familiar with. Rapid growth of health expenditures is another important economic trend in health services in the United States. According to public finance experts, Alan Blinder and Alice Rivlin, control of health care expenditures is the greatest fiscal policy change facing the United States. From 1950 through 2009 there was a continuous increase in annual real per capita health expenditures (Fuchs, 2012). The reason for the increase in real per capita health expenditure, is the access to new medical technology. Medical technology can be used to assist clients directly and indirectly in regards to health insurance and health care services.

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To provide citizens with more options in healthcare and to access health services while reducing costs for clients; President Obama introduced the affordable care act. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services the political movement has lead to better value, better health and better choices for millions of americans (Sec./Public Affairs, 2014). The benefit of the Affordable Care Act law is for all individuals to be offered and provided a choice of affordable health care coverage insurance regardless of their income or employment. The enrollment for the Affordable Care Act began on October 1, 2013. More than 8 million people have signed up for coverage through the health insurance marketplace. In conclusion demographic trends have a major impact on human services and delivery. The world is constantly changing economically and politically with demographic trends in the areas of income level, geographical location, religion, and health. The human service professional should always be aware and familiarize themselves with demographic trends around the world and the surrounding areas of where they reside to help assist with client needs.

References Habjoua, D. (2014). You Give Islam a Bad NameHabjou. Retrieved from http://dinahabjouqa.blogspot.com/2014/06/you-give-islam-bad-name.html Hefflin, C, & Miller, K. (2011). The Geography of Need: Identifying Human Service Needs in Rural America Sachs, Jeffrey D. (2005). The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. New York: Penguin Books. New Jersey Hope and Healing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/dmhs/disaster/ Four takeaways from Tuesday’s Census income and poverty release. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/09/18/four-takeaways-from-tuesdays-census-

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income-and-poverty-release/ Woodside, M. and McClam, T. (2012). Introduction to Human Services (7th ed). Retrieved from University of Phoenix BSHS/305 course website. Fuchs, V. (2012), Major Trends in U.S. Health Economy Since 1950, Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1200478 U.S. Department of Health Services. (2014) Retrieved From http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/facts/bystate/Making-a-Difference-National.html...