9/28/2015
9/28/2015
Shelia Kirksey Shelia Kirksey Trends Paper
Learning Team C
Trends Paper
Learning Team C

There are many demographic trends that will influence the future of the human service department. They include terrorism, cultures, aging, and economic hardships.
Terrorism became a big part of in our country on September 11. We will never forget where we were that day and what we were doing when we heard the terrible news. The act of terrorism has happened more them once. The bombing of the world trade centers, the crash into the Pentagon, and the aborted flight into a field in Pennsylvania. However, there have been other terrorist attacks out of the U.S. Terrorism is defined as “unlawful use of forces or violence against people or property to intimidate the government or civilian population. The goals of terrorist are to create fear among the public, convince the public that their government is powerless against terrorism and receive publicity for their acts. Terrorist attacks can be international or domestic. Terrorist attacks have changed the way Americans think, see, and do. After 9/11 many Americans would not leave their house and definitely would not board an airplane. They were afraid that more attacks would happen. The airports increased security drastically, more security and police were placed in certain areas, increased research on biological weapons and a color coded five level threat system was made.
Terrorist attacks created long and short term consequences as individuals and helpers. There are many people who were affected by these attacks such as; survivors of past traumatic events, those who witnessed or were victims, and those who experienced traumatization from learning of family, friends, and others who were victims. Symptoms include recurring thoughts of the event, isolation, survivors guilt, and feeling the loss of control over one’s life. Human service professionals can provide assistance to those with these symptoms. Human service professionals can help victims understand delayed reactions of fear and helplessness, the importance of maintaining one's routine, sharing of feelings and concerns, and learning what is being done to combat terrorism. Other individuals may experience long-term effects such as fear and hatred of foreigners, and anxiety and fear of future attacks. Those who have past experiences with terrorism can be supportive to those who are having their first experience. The fear of future incidents can be helped by preparation. There are many organizations and groups who have plans and steps to dealing with these long-term issues. Depression is another demographic trend in America.
The increase of cultures and immigrants is a third demographic trend for the future. As a human service professional in America today we will come in contact with people who are different from because of the increase in the many cultures in the United States. They will speak different languages, have different views and values, practice different religions and have different customs. There should be a partnership between the helper and the client and to achieve this partnership we must take the time to learn about our clients cultures. It’s also important that agencies make a point in hiring a diverse group of helpers. Human service professionals should be trained in multicultural counseling techniques, where understanding the background of the client and integrating this cultural understanding into the helping process is stressed. When we understand the culture, it reduces misunderstands. Misunderstanding a client with different values and belief as we can sometimes be offensive to the client and whatever respect we have built with them could easily be lost.
There may be times when we as human service professionals have a hard time dealing with a particular ethnic group because of they are most known for, such as Muslims, who most Americans associate with 9/11. We have to put our feeling aside and do our job to help them to the best of our abilities. We have to fight for them just as much as we fight for a fellow American because to do anything less would be unethical. We should work on developing a good relationship with all of our client regardless of what culture they belong to. It’s unfair to judge people because of their race.
America seems to be the destination of choice for immigrants. Sometimes Americans feel that this group of people should not be entitled to services, or feel they shouldn’t be hired to work. Because of this, this population of people struggle with meeting the needs of their family. Many of these families have low-in-come and may need human services workers to help them obtain food, housing, healthcare, childcare or language, and skills training to become self-sufficient.
Aging is another trend that affects the future of Human services. The aging population is a demographic trend as more elderly are living longer, and there is an increase in the need for services to assist them. Human service professionals will rise as they are needed to be an advocate for elderly population. It is said that the population of the United States aged 65 and over will double in size over the next 25 years; also the population aged 85 and older is on the rise. As this is on the rise, the elderly will need assistance from human services to get through some of the milestones and life changing situations they may face.
More elderly are healthy and live independent and active lives. However, as the elderly get older, especially 85 and older population living arrangements are decided by a few criteria such as financial assets, the ability to care for self, social supports, cultural values, and access to social services. Some elderly are unable to continue living alone and live with adult children, assisted living, or nursing homes or hospice centers. They also can receive services from Meals on Wheels to receive nutritious meals.
Also with the aging population increasing there will be more of a need to address mental health issues such as depression that they suffer from. Sadness and grief are also emotions the elderly experience and are expected to display when they are leaving their home to move elsewhere, their health has declined, developed a disability, and have lost their independence and ability to take care of themselves. One of the most significant losses of the elderly population over 65 is the death of their spouse. Places such as hospice provide patient center care to patients and their families. While serving the patient and providing the palliative care they are also providing support to the family.
Economic hardships are a fourth demographic trend. This will lead to an increase in the demand for public assistance and may often lead to increases in child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and alcohol and drug abuse and depression. Sometimes families who are struggling with economic hardships find life to be overwhelming and may demonstrate some of these negative behaviors. We will need more human services professionals to meet the needs of the people.
Overall as the population over 65 live longer there will be a greater need for human service professionals to assist and provide them with the correct services to get through these milestones and provide the necessary support system they will need. With many diverse cultures, we must know how to interact and be respectful to different backgrounds. Human service professionals will always be needed to help individuals who have been in tragedies or had a loss from a tragedy, and with our economy many families are finding it hard to make it day to day. Human service professionals will be needed more than now in the future.

References http://www.academia.edu/44 http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/202/over9.html
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hsreports/state97/#appendix