Social and Cultural Factors
As a human services professional, you will witness many client challenges that, on the surface, seem insurmountable. In your role as an advocate, resource, and
role model, you will be in a position of having to help clients find creative approaches to solving problems. You will also have an ethical responsibility to try to affect change on a larger scale.
For this project, you will concern to raise awareness about a barrier to treatment experienced by many of your clients. This project will help you to start thinking about client issues at a community and policy level while demonstrating leadership, compassion, and advocacy to your clients.
In this assignment, you will address the following course outcomes:
Employ socially and culturally sensitive strategies in communications practices for strengthening human services delivery across diverse populations.
Apply relevant legal and ethical standards to human services communications in demonstrating professional practice
Employ tools and strategies that articulate issues, deal with conflict, and establish rapport in human services communications
Develop human services communications using multiple modalities appropriate to varied audiences and messaging
Scenario
You have just finished meeting with your client, Mary, to review her treatment plan and discuss why she has been missing appointments at your agency. Referring
to the state-funded transportation program, Better Transportation Company (BTC), Mary stated, “BTC just don’t show up or I have to wait and sometimes I miss the appointment.” “Sometimes I have to wait for hours to get a ride back home.” “They even forgot me last week.” “You know, back in my younger days, I would have picketed the state house and shown them a thing or two!” “I love the drivers though; they are kind, help me with my bags and walker, and are always polite and respectful.”
Mary has few financial resources and significant mental health needs and physical disabilities. Mary is also finding it difficult to pay for alternative transportation or to rely on friends and family, though they are sometimes available. The therapist has recommended that Mary come to treatment group three times per week.
Mary has only been able to attend three groups in the past two months. She states she would be willing to come to the therapy groups if she could find reliable transportation. For Mary, attending these groups would likely mean greater medical and mental health stability and therefore fewer emergency room visits, fewer hospital admissions, and a greater quality of life.
As a human services professional, you already understand that Mary is facing a very real, personal, and difficult problem that may be challenging to remedy
quickly. You also know from your experience with other clients that transportation is a systemic issue and not one unique to Mary. Because you have a friend who works at BTC, you have been able to arrange for an opportunity to present your concerns to the company.
Prompt
For this project, you will consider Mary’s situation, evaluate the transportation options and funding sources in your own community, and plan for a meeting. This meeting will be for an audience of managers and bus drivers and may include dispatch and administrative staff.
Your goal is to create a discussion that is professional, non-blaming, collaborative in style, and designed to elicit feedback and ideas from the meeting
attendees.
Your hope is that you are able to raise their awareness of the client perception of transportation needs on an individual level while also presenting in
such a way that acknowledges transportation as a systemic issue and helps the audience better understand the challenges and barriers faced by the
transportation company, including what they think needs to happen to be able to offer better services for clients.
