Health and human service specialists help provide a number of social and health services for the benefit of the common man. Human and health service specialists serve four primary roles. They are responsible for conducting research on different health and human services. Specialists are required to interview clients in order to understand their requirements and recommend services that they need.
Educational Requirements
Human and health service education equips students with necessary skills and capabilities that are required to serve clients. Human service graduates often work as social workers and other specialists. There are different human and health service degree programs offered by universities and colleges. A bachelor’s degree in human and health services integrates course-related knowledge with an exposure to humanities. During this degree program, students learn different courses including group dynamics, developmental psychology, human services, abnormal psychology, and others. Certificate programs in the field allow students to gain an exposure of human health. In addition, there are also associate degree programs that are designed for high school graduates in order to gain entry level skills. Certification programs offered in this field focus on different specialization areas. These programs include certification in early childhood education certificate in human services, and others. For full-time and part-time employees, the option of online degrees and online certification programs is also available.
Career Outlook
Students of health and human services are provided with diverse career opportunities. Graduates with a degree in health and human services can seek career opportunities in different sectors including health care, adult day care facilities, substance abuse treatments, and others. In the healthcare sector, there is a need for social intervention programs and human services, thus there are multiple opportunities for candidates. A health and human service administrator is responsible for directing other professionals as well as overseeing different tasks. Graduates also choose to work as child service specialists. As child service specialists, professionals provide adequate support and direction to the parents. Specialists, in this field, are required to excel at interviewing and counseling skills since their job duties include interviewing and counseling clients. The skills required by specialists include counseling skills, health service administration, management skills, oral communication skills, written communication skills, and others. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment opportunities for human and health service specialists is expected to grow by 34% in 2016 (www.bls.gov). Thus long-term growth opportunities for professionals and specialists are excellent.
Salary Forecast
The mean annual salary of human and health service specialists is $30,710 (www.bls.gov. Health and human services is a broad field. There are several employment opportunities that are offered to candidates in this field. Therefore, salaries and benefits of candidates are also different depending on their nature of job, education, and experience. According to BLS, job outlook for human and health service specialists is expected to grow at a faster rate. Between the year 2008 and 2018, the job outlook is expected to increase at a rate of 23% (www.bls.gov).
Career promotion, financial independence, and freedom of choice are some of the rewards which can be yours if you opt to study in this field. Either decide to develop further in your current field of employment, or choose to learn about an entirely new field that stimulates your mind. Once that’s done, you can start hunting for the course that will help you open the doors that have always been closed to you.
The healthcare industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the country, and according to the US Bureau of Labor this growth is likely to continue for at least the next ten years. Health administration is the backbone of effective healthcare and there is a high demand for skilled administrators and managers.
Health administration degrees can be studied online at associate, bachelor, masters and doctoral level. You will learn strategic, analytical, problem-solving and management skills, preparing you for health care administration and management careers in hospitals, insurance providers, and within the government. Salaries and positions will reflect your level of expertise.
