Technology Solutions

The term human service in the contemporary world has had a wide scope of definitions and dynamic usages. The common and mostly understood definition of this term is that it is a field that is highly involved in the prevention and remediation or correction of problems as well as putting all the commitment in the improvement of the quality if life of service populations. It is a field that highly deals with the improvement of service delivery to people who need them and also creating a system that allows for the accessibility, coordination and accountability the different stakeholders involved.

This paper will seek to identify the major barriers faced in the provision of an aspect of the human services. The focus of this paper will be on the barriers that are faced in the provision and funding of human services, to the mentally challenged and substance abuse victims.

The community development programs have in the recent past been involved with the countering of these barriers. They have effected procedural requirements in the vetting of the professional that are involved. However, this in itself does not offer the required solution in ensuring that the mentally challenged are well cared for. 

There has been a lot of concern as to the treatment and care given to the mentally challenged and also to the victims of substance abuse. Though there is a lot of commitment from professionals and paraprofessionals that are involved in providing care to this category of individuals a lot has to be done both fiscally and professionally.

The field of care to the mentally challenged and also to the victims of substance abuse is one that needs a lot of dedication both financially and professionally from all the stakeholders. The stakeholders involved are such as the government and the professionals and paraprofessionals. Much commitment is needed from these stakeholders.

Looking at the major barriers that face this aspect of human services are the development of information infrastructure to support health care delivery, the measurement of the quality standards to be maintained in the health care facilities and also the research and education in the fields of health services to the mentally challenged and victims of substance abuse.

To counter these barriers there should be a lot of commitment in the development of good information technology infrastructure.  The information infrastructure involved here should consist of an electronic health record system that will have a support service to the clinicians. It should secondly consist of a secure platform for the exchange of information between different health care service providers across all the said settings. Finally the standard of the recorded data should be in such a way that it makes the shared information understandable to all users.

When the development of these key areas is met then the barrier to access of information needed for the research and education of clinical health workers will be lifted. For one, information sharing will help the providers of the human service to this cadre of individuals a productive one as there will be reductions of repeat patients in the institutions of correction and treatment to the individuals.

Secondly, there will be perfect communication between the stake holders such as the government and the private sector that may see the need to fund the sector. This is because there will be transparency in the way services to the mentally challenged and victims of substance abuse are delivered and this will increase accountability.

Finally the development of such infrastructure will be relevant in the sharing of information regarding the individuals involved, who are either treated or discharged or even those that are still in the institutions of correction and/or treatment. This information is vital in the monitoring of the progress of the mentally challenged and also that of the victims of substance abuse.

On funding, the government should seek to involve the private sector in providing the support to the human services department in key area of interest. First, the federal funds should support the development of critical components of the stakeholders that will provide the technological infrastructure such as the NHII. Such support will lead to the creation of a secure platform that will enable the sharing of critical information across all the stakeholders and delve in maintaining a standard of quality among the various providers for the human service to the mentally challenged and victims of substance abuse.

Second, the government in the effort of funding the technological development of these sectors should give out some incentives. Such incentives may include the provision of special loans, payment to the providers some incentives and also the development of other fiscal mechanisms to counter the poorly developed infrastructure.

Finally, there should be an involvement of the government and other key private developers in ensuring that the net providers are provided the much needed safety to support the adoption of IT in the sector

In developing the IT infrastructure inn the sector, the EHR system would encompass the collection of electronic information that relate to the patients' health care and general well being. It will also permit the immediate access to all the electronic files by a selected category of authorized users form person-to-person and also from person to population levels.  Third there should be the provision of knowledge and decisive support such that the quality and the efficiency of the health care given are not compromised in any way. Finally, the HER system will ensure that efficient and effective processes are delivers to the mentally challenged and also tot the victims of substance abuse.