Raleigh as the capital of the North Carolina state is a region that gradually witnessed economic growth; however, the expansion of the city facilitates various social issues such as growing population leading to high cost of living, healthcare disparity, and substance abuse. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city’s population was approximately 474069 in 2019 with the report suggesting the region as one of the fastest-growing cities in America (McGill et al., 2020). The high rate of growth of the population is due to the expansion of the city with business expansions accompanied by new retail opportunities. The growing population is a social concern subject to the pressures on crucial systems such as the education system. The net result involves a rising cost of living facilitated by the population competing for scarce resources. Another social issue facing the population regards healthcare provision with rising demand for expansion of Medicaid for more citizens within the area to gain medical coverage. Lastly, there is the issue of substance abuse that mainly affects the young adult population.
AARP and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are two organizations that might work with the Raleigh, NC population. The former addresses challenges for older Americans by lobbying at the federal and state level. On the other hand, the latter spearheads public health campaigns that target improving behavioral health for citizens. AARP can help the older generation of Raleigh to acquire additional healthcare coverage through programs such as Medicaid while SAMHSA can assist families accompanied by addicted individuals to gain better understanding concerning substance abuse effects alongside addiction disorders leading to learning more concerning treatment services available to facilitate the healing process. Some of the pros of AARP include many affiliates that guarantees the company’s reach on vast matters and contribution towards provided health insurance. The con for AARP regards their major role to the elderly which leaves other age groups within society at a loss. Some of the pros of SAMHSA include providing vital information and creating avenues for shared responsibility in handling substance abuse issues. The con for the organization regards lack of sufficient funding to fully manage issues faced by individuals suffering addiction disorders or for families coping up with the mentioned situation.
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SAMHSA potentially uses community interventions such as grassroots intervention and professionally-led intervention to handle the group facing substance use adversities. For the former, it involves using volunteers at the community level to work together with the affected group to develop and adopt social support measures (Henslin, 2020). On the other hand, the latter involves the organization using health professionals to plan and implement support structures which may include therapy and providing specific treatment subject to the abused drug (Henslin, 2020). I would accommodate both measures given the opportunity to use the agency resource in handling the substance abuse population whereby for grassroots intervention I will work with community leaders to get forums targeting addressing the substance abuse issue. For professionally-led intervention, I will schedule sessions with the health professionals provided by SAMHSA to handle specific cases, especially those that require swift action.
Some of the National Organization for Human Services (NOHS) standards that a human services professional provider may apply when operating with populations facing substance use issues include honoring cultural diversity, objectivity, and acting with integrity. For the first component, it is key to recognize the diversity within the population, thereby avoid making remarks that might prove unappealing to a specific ethnic group or use a stereotype to argue a case given part of the group would feel offended. For the second element, the professional should remain steadfast in handling the issues and provide much-needed input without judging the plight of any individual. For the final element, the professional must remain steadfast in adhering to recommended health standards and treatment measures.
Human service professionals play a significant role in solving social problems concerning substance abusing populations in my community by counseling, using support groups, and assisting necessary individuals (Henslin, 2020). They counsel for mental, physical, or emotional problems that may arise due to substance abuse. They organize support groups that communicate need for civility and healthy living, thereby preventing further abuse. They equally help communities, individuals, and families to overcome addiction and resort to healthy living.
References
Henslin, J. H. (2020). Social Problems: A Down-to-Earth Approach (13 th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education.
McGill, D. et al. (2020). Wealth in people and the value of historic Oberlin Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina. Economic Anthropology , 7 (2), 176-189.
