Social_Inclusion_and_Exclusion

Select a group of individuals who may experience social exclusion. Describe the effects of social exclusion that may affect their health and outline some of the inclusive strategies that are in place to help provide health care to these individuals Social Exclusion and Inclusion - The Homeless This essay defines and explains Social Exclusion and Social Inclusion and the issues surrounding these. It will then go on to choose a group of people to be researched further and show how social exclusion affects them. This essay will also include how social exclusion can affect the person’s health and the actual impact this has on the individual’s life. Ways of providing support to the chosen group will be discussed and the availability of such services. Local government strategies and focus points that are in place nationally and locally for helping to promote social inclusion within the chosen group will be investigated further. According to Local Government Improvement and development (2011) Social exclusion relates to being unable to participate fully in normal social activities or to take part in normal political or civic life. The term social inclusion is used in attempting to combat social exclusion. Summarising this definition, highlights that if one does not partake fully in the ‘normal’ way of life one is at the risk of being socially excluded from society. In turn this is decreasing one’s ability of having any say or any knowledge surrounding the normality of working life in accordance with the social norm. Therefore if one is included in normal life one is accepted socially and is able to access a wide variety of services from the government and society without any restrictions. However according to Levitas, Pantazis, Fahmy et al (2007) ‘Social exclusion is a complex and multi-dimensional process, It involves the lack of denial of resources, rights, goods and services, and the inability to participate in the normal relationships and activities, available to the majority of people in a society’. So this is the area where there is a potential to create a diverse set of barriers widely influenced socially, culturally, economically and also politically. Levitas et al (2007). This may then go on to affect the quality of life of the individuals and their abilities to integrate into society. Levitas et al (2007) shows the extent of social exclusion within society which in turn may result in smaller groups potentially facing social exclusion which could be based upon ones social class. There are many smaller groups of people who may feel socially excluded from society some examples are people living with a physical disability be it a disability the person was born with or something that came about later in life. The older person may fall into the socially excluded category as they may still be living at home and are not able to integrate themselves as effectively as they used to or are somehow not aware of help they are entitled to in terms of support. Also those with dementia or other mental disorders may become extremely excluded due to the public’s perception of the problems faced or even those who are in prison or are previous offenders may also feel socially excluded. Homeless people are the focus of this essay and how this group of individuals may experience social exclusion will be highlighted. The subject of homeless people has been selected to be researched further as at present there appears to be a substantial number of services available to the chosen group including charities, volunteers, voluntary groups and a variety of government plans set for the future which will be addressed throughout this assignment. All of these resources in turn should help the homeless to begin to attempt to re-join our ‘normal’ society and in turn hopefully be socially included once again. Each year people from all walks of life become homeless for many different reasons, mostly this is due to various circumstances that may arise within their life, but a person doesn’t necessarily have to be living on the streets to be categorized as homeless. The charity Shelter (2012) confirms this by mentioning ‘You may be legally classed as homeless if you are sleeping on a friend’s sofa, staying in a hostel, suffering from overcrowding, or other bad conditions.’ However these following Government statistics show the severity of the amount of homeless people who are in fact living on the streets, these statistics show that in the autumn of 2011 the total number of people sleeping rough on the streets, after counts and estimates in England was 2,181, this is up 413 (23 per cent) from the autumn of 2010 which showed a total of 1,768. Communities and Local Government (2011) Many people in the UK take an extremely negative view on the homeless people in our society and portray them under a negative and unfortunately a judgemental light. A large proportion of these people who are left homeless may have in fact led a perfectly normal integrated life as part of society prior to being homeless. They may have previously held a professional role within a community either socially or may have held down a good job role and then hit hard times or have had a life changing experience that caused loss of their house, family, money etc. Unfortunately there is a preventable amount of violence towards the homeless who are living on the streets, this often occurs late at night when night clubs and pubs are turning out and the general public are a little steamy and intoxicated. Read (2008) goes on to say that, ‘these rates are up to 50 times more than those of us in the housed population.’ The general public tend to give the homeless a hard time by hurling abuse in the streets which leads to the major decline of social inclusion. Homelessness, either being on the streets or in a situation where a person is classed as homeless may have a huge effect on the individual’s overall health due to a poor diet, bad personal hygiene, and a lack of access to healthcare and dentists, also worryingly sexually transmitted diseases are a high risk factor to the homeless and also other illnesses which may be related to drug or alcohol abuse or even excessive smoking. Although many people who are homeless may experience just the same health problems as those of us who live a ‘normal’ life. Regrettably for the majority of those who are homeless this isn’t always the case as respiratory tract infections are a common problem in the homeless due to excessive smoking or over exposure to inner city pollution. Read (2008) confirms this by highlighting that ‘Respiratory infections are common about two or three times as high as the general population.’ Read (2008) continues, ‘The incidence of gastrointestinal problems is also higher. Dental health is often poor. Neurological disorders can be the result of trauma or alcohol.’ Further to this it is important for the nurses and those within the medical profession, who are looking after the homeless either in the hospital setting or the community to adhere to a non-judgemental approach in the way they are encouraged and taught. The homeless often turn to alcohol, drugs and smoking as a good coping and de-stressing mechanism to help with dealing with a life on the streets but all of these factors in turn can seriously affect the person’s health. Read (2008) states ‘The rate of alcohol misuse has been estimated at three to five times as higher among people who are homeless. Drug misuse is also high, particularly among younger hostel users. It has been suggested that 80% of single homeless people misuse drugs.’ Research by the charity Crisis (2010) found that an average homeless person had a life expectancy of 47 compared with 77 for the rest of the population and drug and alcohol abuse account for a third of all deaths amongst the homeless. It must be a boring tedious life on the streets but one can somehow try and sympathise with some of the reasons the homeless have for turning to a life of drink and drugs, it may be a social norm within the homeless community, it is most certainly a pass time for the homeless, it can also help to numb the pain of whatever they are going through in their life but in turn this abuse of life goes on to have severe consequences on their health and indeed on the person’s social status, if people are seen to be high on alcohol and drugs it’s going to be far harder for them to find the relevant help and the general public are going to be less likely to want to help the homeless person if they appear to be intoxicated or addicted to drugs or alcohol. Mental health problems are also very high within the homeless of our society. ‘Generally, rates of mental health problems are twice that of the general population.’ Read (2008). This may have been the reason the person became homeless in the first place or the mental health condition may have occurred as a result of their homeless situation, depression can be a big part of the downhill spiral of the homeless person all of the above negatives are strong deciding factors that could lead to these people feeling or actually being socially excluded. When it comes to homeless people requiring medical intervention of any kind this may pose a huge barrier and may present difficulties for the homeless person to access the required treatment. This may be due to the fact that they are less likely to have a registered GP due to their position in society or if they do have a GP from their previous life they may have a great distance to travel and not have any means of getting to the destination. This may result in the homeless people using Accident and emergency departments and walk in centres excessively, which in turn can cause over-crowding and long waiting times for the socially included members of the public. Other homeless people may not access any form of medical treatment and in doing this they are putting themselves in a graver position for further rapid deterioration. They may feel that they are not worthy of the intervention or generally not realise that the suitable help is out there. There will be many illnesses, symptoms or diseases in the homeless that go un-noticed due to their erratic lifestyle so they may not be able to pin point what is normal health and what is not normal. There are many charities and organisations set up to support and raise money to help the homeless, and in turn attempt to get the individual integrated back into some form of accommodation and eventually back into a normal life. The charity Crisis (2010) provides different types of support for the homeless including activities from art, drama, physical sports and yoga to social activities to help boost self-confidence and to re adapt the persons social skills which are devised to help the homeless person to actively meet new people. Also more practical skills are made available such as training and education in basic subjects in order to prepare people for returning to work. Skills such as CV writing, interview skills along with extensive housing advice are also a great help. The charity CRASH (2012) solely concentrates on raising money for the homeless and finding suitable ways of spending the donation money it is usually spent on improving the country’s hostels, various day centres, night shelters, and providing safe and clean environments for the homeless, this charity relies solely on donations and various fund raising activities and importantly this charity doesn’t receive any government hand outs. Shelter (2012) believes ‘tackling homelessness is not just about getting people off the streets. It’s also about finding lasting solutions to stop people from becoming homeless in the first place.’ This is a positive focus for the future and begins as a good basis for the governments to promote awareness of this. This strategy has been called ‘The Homelessness prevention’ The Department for Communities and Local Government (2012) is planning to invest £400m over the next four years in order to help prevent Homelessness this grant will help to support the work of local authorities and the voluntary sector including well established charities. This grant will help support the homeless people in procure the initial rental deposit with which to help them to obtain a tenancy within the private rental sector; this government grant will also go towards influencing financial services to get involved in helping people to manage debt more efficiently in order to help prevent them becoming homeless. Other preventative measures by the government that are in place are support groups to help reduce repossession of properties thus preventing homelessness in the first instance. Studying at a local level, The Nottingham City Council (2010) have taken on board the same idea as the national government the local version is called ‘The Homelessness Prevention Gateway’ this helps people in Nottingham who are homeless or soon to become homeless. The strategy that is in place makes every effort to make sure that some kind of accommodation is found for the vulnerable person. If it isn’t possible instantly the council works will continue until a solution is found, this may take time but in turn its positive work shows hope to those on the streets in our local area. This is provided by the gateway team or Nottingham housing aid. To summarise it is clear to see throughout this assignment that even though there is plenty of help out there for the homeless of our society in the UK, there is still more awareness to be raised within the perception of homelessness and its causes in the view of the general public. It is important for us as a whole to be actively aware of the socially excluded of society in general and to see these people as individuals that should and could take an active useful role in society, thus a solid effort should be made to help them and encourage them to work effectively to become socially included. It is imperative that over the next few years The Department for Communities and Local Government (2012) spend tax payer’s money wisely and help the homeless in the ways they have promised. In conclusion to the assignment, it began by researching a basic definition and understanding of social inclusion and social exclusion as a basis for this assignment. It then went on to carefully choose the group of people that was to be researched further and gave a clear outline of the meaning of homelessness. It found that there was plenty of useful and relevant information available from various government and charitable websites and also various journals on homelessness and social exclusion. Further findings pointed towards relevant resources on how the health of the homeless may deteriorate rapidly and also showed the help that is available to them and just how easy it is for them to access the required treatment. Reference List: Crisis The national charity for single homeless people [online] Available at: http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/donate.html'gclid=CMLG79uavq8CFQMNtAodSHMszg [Accessed on 18th April 2012] [Site updated 10th April 2012] Department for Communities and Local Government [online] Available at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/roughsleepingautumn2011 [Accessed 18th April 2012] [Site updated 23rd February 2012] Levitas, R., Pantazis, C., Fahmy, E., Gordon, D., Lloyd, E. and Patsios, D. (2007) The multi-dimensional analysis of social exclusion . London: Cabinet Office Social Exclusion Task Force. Local Government Improvement and Development 2001-2010 Social Exclusion/Inclusion [online] Available at: http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do'pageId=1589600 [Accessed 29th March 2012] [Site updated 18th November 2011]¬¬¬¬ Nottingham City Council [online] Available at: http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx'articleid=3087 [Accessed on 18th April 2012] [Site updated 22nd April 2010] Read, S. (2008) Housing care and support. Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd 11(1) pp.7-10 Shelter the housing and homelessness Charity [online] Available at: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/homelessness [Accessed 18th April 2012] [Site updated 12th April 2012]