Technology Solutions for Human Services Paper YOUR NAME HERE DATE HERE BSHS/352 INSTRUCTOR NAME HERE Technology Solutions for Human Services With every occupation barriers are encountered and the human services occupations are no different. There are many different areas in the human services occupations such as funding, services, planning and empowerment where barriers can and are encountered. Where funding and services are in the forefront and often looked at when changes are made, empowerment is placed on a back burner and sometimes even forgotten completely.

Empowerment is an important part of the human services profession and therefore the barriers that affect empowerment associated with human services need to be looked at and addressed. Barriers Associated with Empowerment Within human services empowerment is a key aspect of helping individuals seeking help. Human services professionals work with individuals in need of help that the individual is unable to achieve on his or her own. Where human service professionals have an array of information and guidance available to him or her, clients that seek out assistance from human services professionals do not.

This is where empowerment begins to take shape and where human services individuals start encountering barriers in the attempts of empowerment. Barriers become present in many different shapes and forms when empowerment is concerned. One of the biggest barriers that a human service professional encounters in regards to empowerment is resistance. When human services professionals begin helping individuals the human service professional works on the individual’s self-esteem and empowers the individual to become independent.

Many times this empowerment is met with resistance caused by the fear that an individual has with the change that will occur. This resistance can be a large barrier in the way of empowerment for the client and the human services professional. Another barrier that can affect empowerment in human services is communication between the human service professional and the client. Barriers of communication can prevent a client from getting across his or her needs, and in turn can cause the human service professional to either not be able to provide the client with the assistance that he or she needs.

Communication barriers can come in many shapes and forms such as being scared to voice ones feelings, not knowing how to express feelings with words, or even as far as the client feeling that his or her human service professional is not listening or is distracted by something else. A barrier such as communication can be detrimental to the helping process and can potentially harm the client more. The final barrier that can affect empowerment for a client is the clients’ support system.

If a client feels that he or she has no support system, the client can feel that there is no point for empowerment or that there is no type of empowerment can help him or her. A support system can consists of many different people, from family and friends, to a human service professional and any additional organizations that work to help the client in any way possible. Utilizing Applications of Technology Can Be to Overcome Barriers When attempting to overcome barriers in regards to empowerment in the human services, there are many technological applications that can assist clients.

When it comes to barriers such as resistance, communication, and a support system, there are several applications that can help a client overcome these barriers and move forward with empowerment. In regards to resistance, the best technology to use is a presentation be it via a video or a slideshow. When a client is resisting empowerment he or she should be shown what his or her resistance prevents him or her from achieving. Presenting a client with a PowerPoint presentation that exemplifies the negatives of his or her resistance to the encouraging of empowerment can help the client physically see the repercussions.

Technology such a video cameras can allow an a human service professional to record his or her client that is resistant to empowerment and use software to show the pros and cons of what can happen if he or she does and does not resist the empowerment that the professional is trying to teach the client. Clients that possess a barrier in terms of communication have many different ways to use technology to overcome that barrier. A client that feels that his or her human service professional is not listening or communicating with him or her appropriate can utilize technology such as word processing or instant messaging.

The client can e-mail his or her human service professional expressing his or her concern. If the client is afraid of voicing his or her feelings or opinions to the human service professional in person, the client can communicate electronically with e-mail from providers such as Yahoo or Live, letters written via a word processing system such as Microsoft Word, or instant messaging programs such as MSN or Yahoo chat. If the client wants, he or she is even able to communicate via the computer and a video conferencing session with applications such as Skype.

Each of these pieces of technology allow a client to communicate with his or her human service professional, organization or family without the fear of repercussions. The final barrier of a non-existent support system can be overcome in several different ways. A support system does not necessarily have to consist of individuals that client knows but can consist of people that have undergone the same experiences in the past and can relate to the client in multiple aspects. Technology is a great source in helping individuals to find these support groups.

There are applications such as Facebook and Twitter that allow individuals to join groups relating to his or her experiences, situations or mentality. A client can go to his or her human service professional and can obtain spreadsheets and reports about groups in the area that the client can go to and develop a support group. Spreadsheets with different telephone numbers and names can be generated within these groups to help a client find and communicate with members of his or her support system more easily.

Conclusion Where barriers are concerned, sometimes it can make an individual feel that there is no chance for him or her to attain what he or she needs, especially in the case of empowerment. The main goal of empowerment is to help an individual become more independent and gain a higher self-esteem. Barriers such as resistance, communication, and a lack of support system can prevent an individual from being empowered.

By utilizing technological tools that are continuously developing and changing, a client can increases his or her chances of overcoming these barriers and gaining everything that he or she needs from empowerment. References Fox, J. (1998). Employee empowerment: an apprenticeship model. Retrieved from http://members. tripod. com/j_fox/thesis. html Hanger, D. & Marrone, J. (1995). Empowerment issues in services to individuals with disabilities. Retrieved from http://www. empowermentzone. com/empower. txt