Human Service professionals are similar to other professionals and
non-professionals that work in the same agency because they are
there to support the client(s) in addressing problems of daily living;
they both have similar goals. Both professionals and non-
professionals work together to build trust with the client(s) and create
an accepting and respectful environment for them to address these
issues. Professionals and non-professionals form a team, and each
member is responsible for contributing to the process.
Human Service professionals and non-professionals differ from one
another in a few ways; the first one being their education levels.
Human Service professionals require some level of higher education
(Associates degree, Bachelors degree, Masters degree, etc.), whereas
a non-professional may require only a high school diploma or GED.
The other ways professionals and non-professionals differ from one
another is because there are different jobs, rule and regulations, and
policies and procedures for each position that the individual needs to
follow.
Something that could be done to work collaboratively with both other
professionals and non-professionals in the agency is by building a
network. Building a network is helpful because you learn what
different services are available for the client(s), and you start to make
personal contacts with other professionals and non-professionals.
Referring clients is also something that can be done collaboratively
because you would start to learn who the contact person is that you
would reach out to for the different agencies. For example, if you
refer a patient to a mental health clinic, you would eventually learn
who the secretary is and you would start to develop a relationship
with that person.
Resources:
Woodside, M. R., & McClam, T. (2018). An Introduction to Human
Services (9th ed.). Cengage Learning US.
https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781337671262
