Helping in Human Services
The history of assisting others through human services varies in form, scale, and manner. Initially, residents received considerable assistance from acquaintances, families, and religious institutions (Suanet & Antonucci, 2017). However, today these services are currently available to those who are eligible. Moreover, there are people in modern society who are uninformed of the assistance that human service providers give. The evolution of human service is a cyclical procedure that transforms through the period as the demands of individuals in society alter due to unprecedented circumstances. Regardless of these revitalizations, the objective is to ensure that as the human service history, services evolve and meet the demands of members of society. As eras develop throughout time in service provision, the nature of the procedures and the community-based organizations affect the history of human services in adapting to a series of changes that support human services in aiding the operations.
In Chapter Three, it is evident that the earliest social service givers were the regional Catholic Churches. Prior to the twenty-first century, religious organizations were primarily responsible for providing services to people. For instance, Horner (2019) emphasized that the Catholic Church was primarily in charge of rendering humanitarian services to the destitute, orphaned children, the aged, and the disabled. Various facilities for needy families were established as a result of the church’s leadership. However, the religious organization’s assistance began to dwindle. As a result, it unearthed governmental programs expansion that aided people. Hence, this resulted in a confrontation between the state and the church (Schulman, 2020). Moreover, as individuals gain the ability to serve, the assisting process underwent adjustments in order to better the human services procedure. In this regard, it gave rise to the first human service providers in Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Francis, who rendered exemplary helping services to people.
Further, the nature of the provision of helping services has changed over time. For illustration, the government utilized a timeline to establish and implement legislation and restrictions to aid all poverty-stricken families. Some of the instances of improvements prior to the twenty-first century entail. In the 1600s, the needs of the impoverished were acknowledged. Moreover, in 1600–1700 there was the establishment of almshouses, and in 1773 State Hospital was operated in Williamsburg, Virginia (McConnell, 2019). On the same note, in 1792, Philippe Pinel called for more compassionate care of the psychologically ill in France and, finally, in 1800, the establishment of district work camps.
Between 1600 and 1990, there was a drive for the state to establish a system offering assistance for people’s fundamental necessities. Thence, the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601 is signed into legislation (Schulman, 2020). Such statutes oblige beneficiaries to labor in return for government help; the beneficiaries must labor for a set period of time in order to acquire aid. This law governed societal aid activities in America and England, dictating who to give what assistance to the needy. In this way, this legislation and the welfare reform system modified the distribution of assistance funds to eligible families in dire distress.
This legislation was used to aid several groups, including mental health treatment centers, the National Coalition on Mental Disorders, domestic retirement homes, developmental impairments, and family assistance for youngsters. These organizations exist to provide support to the impoverished, the aged, and those with mental and physical impairments (Wilson, 2022). Henceforth, the development compelled the government to implement the social work profession, and such individuals must possess certain expertise, abilities, and comprehension in order to successfully assist the needy (Canda et al., 2019). Notable occurrences brought about these developments, which will alter the history of aid and social assistance.
The Nature of the Helping Process
Essentially, the structure of the assisting process necessitates that human service employees plan for the customer’s entrance and exit from the project using five crucial steps. A human service laborer’s assisting procedure should be planned and goal-oriented. The five steps of this aid procedure include preparation, client arrival, problem analysis, intervention techniques, and conclusion of client services. In the first step, preparation, the aid arranges the environment so that the client experiences appreciation and senses safety. The aid provider must also comprehend the client’s ancestry and mental and bodily states. If the client has a handicap and relies on a walking cane or a wheelchair, the surroundings must be adapted to meet their requirements. The main objective is to arrange for the customer; preparation is vital for assisting the client. Furthermore, creating a professional setting and ensuring the patient’s satisfaction in the absence of interruptions is advantageous.
The second step is the customer’s arrival; the human service professional must use the customer’s preferred name while greeting and welcoming them, making the client feel at ease. Shaking of hands and a back rub may be part of the reception since this is how specific customers feel most comfortable and pleased. The third step is issue analysis; at this stage, the aid provider and client examine and discuss the problem. The aid provider must recognize that the client may have a number of difficulties that stem from diverse perspectives of complexity. The aid provider provides many viewpoints on client concerns. When investigating the issue, the aid worker should take these views into consideration. After identifying the difficulties, they move on to the following phase. The intervention tactics constitute the fourth phase; the aid provider and client start determining and establishing objectives.
The aide and the customer examine how they will address these issues. Therefore, they concentrate on the customer gaining emotional control and educating the client to grow independent. At this stage, the customer and the assistant may confront the issue and provide the client with exposure to other resources that will aid in challenge resolution. Henceforth, in the fifth stage, the client knows how to sustain the remedy in the event that the issue reoccurs later.
In direct service, a helper must possess the necessary attributes. Included among these are communication, compassion, and trustworthiness. A good aid understands to connect and comprehends the importance of the client’s sentiments and actions. Communication is the only means through which the helper and client may build a reliable connection in order to discuss and determine how to resolve the issue. On the other side, helpers’ administrative work is the substantial training to comprehend the wants of their consumers to aid in resolving their challenges. Despite the depth of the helper’s training, their main objective is to support clients with their difficulties and assist them in being independent. In addition, the aid worker must have the knowledge and credentials before working with clients.
Current Helping Efforts
Locally, multiple human services professionals collaborate with various organizations to help members of the public. Social service organizations, welfare organizations, boys and girls clubs, youth villages, REM, United Way, Catholic Charities, Pine Belt Mental Health, Impact Behavior, and Families First are the names of these organizations. Human services provide appropriate support for all of these groups. Usually, the neighborhood council provides each group with an equal sum of money. The current leader approved this measure, and the people decided to guarantee that each homeless shelter received the same amount of funding since these shelters are essential to reducing the homeless burden.
These locations provide a variety of seminars monthly to check in with the neighborhood and to raise money for various causes. Results collected from evaluations conducted within the health promotion field are thus a critical factor in influencing transformation within the human services industry (Wilson, 2022). People are aware that there is a dearth of thorough and rigorous assessments of the policies, programs, and services that pertain to social services in society (Wilson, 2022). Numerous households in the neighborhood are able to meet their basic needs of food, housing, transportation, and paid-for utilities thanks to the funding provided by these human assistance organizations.
The annals of the field of human services demonstrate that those working in the field cultivate client connections in order to guarantee that the client’s needs are prioritized until such time as the clients figure out how to resolve their issues. The objective is to provide the customer with a straightforward way forward that will assist them in recognizing their issues and finding a solution in the most time-effective manner possible. In addition, the goal is to persuade the clients to seize control of their lives and become active participants in them.
References
Canda, E. R., Furman, L. D., & Canda, H. J. (2019). Spiritual diversity in social work practice: The heart of helping. Oxford University Press, USA.
Horner, N. (2019). What is social work? Contexts and perspectives (5th ed.). Learning Matters.
McConnell, C. R. (2019). Hospitals and health systems. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Schulman, M. (2020). The history of human services – and how you can get involved today. Historycentral.com. Web.
Suanet, B., & Antonucci, T. C. (2017). Cohort differences in received social support in later life: The role of network type. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 72(4), 706-715.Web.