HNN301 Impact of Social Exclusion Assignment Sample

• Subject Code : HNN301
• University : Deakin University My Assignment Services is not sponsored or endorsed by this college or university.
• Subject Name : Nursing

Mental Health Promotion

According to Stanley et al. (2018), social exclusion is a term that is used when a particular group of individuals or a particular individual is not allowed to be a part of normal society with denied access to opportunities and resources. It is also found that social –exclusion is usually urban based in developed countries. This social exclusion may include problems like mobility access issues, area accessibility issues, services availability and utilization, and many other related problems. Such behaviour impacts the mental health of homeless people as well. It is also found that homeless people are socially excluded that affect their self-esteem, confidence, peace and thereby affecting their mental health and well being. According to Brown et al. (2018), if the homeless people are socially excluded for medical services then they develop serious health-related complications like anxiety disorder, hypertension, cardiovascular or respiratory issues. The range of mental health issues ranges from drugs, psychiatric diagnosis of problems like depression, anxiety, and many others. Although, housing programs and Melbourne Street to-Home equivalent services are being implemented in Australia that provides the homeless people with homes, thus providing health interventions. This easy discusses the social exclusion of homeless people and its impact on their mental health.

According to the Youth Affairs Council of WA (2018), in Australia, nearly every 1 person out of 200 is homeless whereas, in New South Wales on average every 40 people out of 10000 are homeless. It was also found that based on sex, men are comparatively more homeless than women. A few common reasons that lead to homelessness are usually assaulted by violence or family disputes. In Australia on the 2016 census night, the number of people that were homeless was 116,427. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018), the rate with which the people in Australia are getting homeless is increasing every year. The rate showed a 46% increase for the last 5 years. The National Housing and homelessness agreement (NHHA) has sent $125 million to provide home services to homeless people.

The government has also decided to invest $118 million in the coming years to aid the programs or services of providing homes to homeless people. It is also found that 4-6 % of the population is deeply excluded and nearly 1% is very deeply excluded. According to the Yeoh et al. (2017), the risk factors that affect mental health and well being are lack of access to education, access and abuse towards drugs and alcohol, poorly resourced environments, inadequate food supplies, family fragmentations, peer rejection, isolation and exclusion physical illness, poverty, and many others. The Protective factors that positively affect the mental health and wellbeing are safe environments, parenting competence, access to transport or medical or education services, access to social services and quality health, adequate food, and many more (Yeoh et al., 2017).

According to Tamminen et al. (2016), many strategies might help in alleviating social mental health like support to children, socio-economic empowerment, childhood and youth interventions, promotional activities for mental health, mental health interventions, and maintenance. Few more strategies help in alleviating mental health like the development of healthy communities- for good housing, secure and safe environment, good working conditions, employment to youth, social support, education access, preventing violence-, or improved urban infrastructure. The public education campaigns not only affect mental health but also affect well being of the homeless people or those who are socially excluded. It was found that not only the government but the society individuals should also come forward to deal with the issues of homeless people. The help could be in the form of providing plats or rooms with renting formats or access other services so that such an affected population of society can get the chance to develop. This also reduces the stress on the government in dealing with the problem. A community should come forward to help other communities to spread the message to peace, harmony, and development of the country (Tamminen et al., 2016).

According to Malla et al. (2016), the fourth national Mental Health Plan was released by the Australian government to promote social inclusion and mental health among the homeless population. This program or plan aims at promoting the well being of people in Australia and preventing the increase of such cases among the affected population. It aims to deal with the impacts of mental health issues on individuals and their families, development of the integrated approaches for justice and health services, and housing access to decrease the risks of social exclusion and poor mental health of the homeless population. This program has many underlying steps to develop improved mental health and as much fewer chances of social exclusion as possible (Malla et al., 2016). The plan is divided into five main strategic areas:1. Housing – ensuring affordable and adequate housing; 2. Prevention – preventing the people from entering into the stage of homelessness; 3. A strong and coordinated response – a system that is available 24/7 to provide health services to different communities;

4. Data, research, and targets – setting up a clear target and ensuring the deliveries to achieve the goals of the plan; and 5. Building community capacity – enabling all the individuals who want homes to be part of the program to provide homes to the homeless. Moreover, according to Yeoh et al. (2017), the Melbourne Charter states that factors that influence the mental health and well being of the people. Those factors are active engagement with those affected individuals or groups of individuals that are highly affected, protecting the indigenous cultures, promotion of equal opportunity, equal access to health and other social offers and services so that there is no risk of poor mental health, and the freedom from discrimination should be established. The women subject to violence should be strictly controlled, encouraging the corporate sector for sharing the responsibility by ensuring safety and health in the workplace, public participation principle utilization, redressing inequities, quality care access, redressing discriminatory practices, and many others (Yeoh et al., 2017).

According to Hall, W. (2017), homeless people showed very high rates of respiratory disorders or mental health disorders. Homelessness has become a major factor in mortality. Due to homelessness, mental health disorders include anxiety disorders (27%), depressive (47%), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (10%), and schizophrenia (9%). Some other health problems are also observed like gastrointestinal, urological, dermatological, and musculoskeletal problems. The terms social exclusion and mental health are having equal impacts on each other (Correa-Velez et al., 2015). If the homeless people are socially excluded then they will face the following effects: tiredness, sadness, interpersonal problems, social withdrawal, eating or sleep disorders, difficulty in problem-solving, abuse, and violence. There are few more effects like premature death, increased disability, denied access to emergency health services, restrictions on the exercise of political rights, inequalities among different groups of the population, and many more.

According to Villeneuve & Kaufmann (2020), frequently the older aged people and the young population are at the risk of social exclusion because of the people with less income, poor mobility opportunities, women or single parents, and no car access are also at the risk of social exclusion. The other impacts of social exclusion on wellness are unemployment, social isolation, poverty, lack of hope, poor physical health, services are poorly accessible, and many more. According to Krishnan (2015), social exclusion always has negative impacts. Social exclusion is mainly related to many other aspects that can affect people like social deprivation, injustice, discrimination, identity issues, and many others. Moreover, it is also found that if the individual is having mental illness then he will be socially excluded by society. A determinant of social exclusion is stigma.

It can be concluded that social exclusion is faced globally by many families or individuals that negatively impact their mental health and wellbeing. As this behaviour had affected many people in Australia therefore, many strategies have been developed by the government to deal with this issue and improving the status of homeless people by providing them employment, equal rights, and justice. The Australia government has helped by releasing the funds for providing homes to homeless people and has declared to release more funds to complete the plan and establish stability in society among different groups. The homelessness is related to many other problems like drug addiction, alcohol addiction, and lack of family support, and poor health that will result in low income. If social exclusion is eliminated from society then the homeless people will also get access to education, health services and they will exercise their rights. All this showed that social exclusion highly affected the health of homeless people in Australia that mentally impact their lives.

References for Mental Health Promotion 

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018). Census reveals a rise in the rate of homelessness in Australia. Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/lookup/2049.0Media%20Release12016

Brown, M. A., Gellatley, W., Hoffman, A., Dowdell, L., Camac, A., Francois, R., Zekry, A. (2018). Medical complications of homelessness: A neglected side of men’s health. Internal Medicine Journal, 49(4), 455-46. DOI:10.1111/imj.14139 

Correa-Velez, I., Gifford, S. M., & McMichael, C. (2015). The persistence of predictors of wellbeing among refugee youth eight years after resettlement in Melbourne, Australia. Social Science & Medicine, 142, 163–168. DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.08.017 

Hall, T., Kakuma, R., Palmer, L. (2019). Social inclusion and exclusion of people with mental illness in Timor-Leste: A qualitative investigation with multiple stakeholders. BMC Public Health, 19. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7042-4

Hall, W. (2017). Mental disorders in offspring of parents who have been homeless. The Lancet Public Health, 2(12). https://doi.org/10.1016/s2468-2667(17)30220-7

Krishnan, L. (2015). Social exclusion, mental health, disadvantage and injustice. Psychology and Developing Societies, 27(2), 155–173. DOI:10.1177/0971333615594053 

Malla, A., Iyer, S., McGorry, P., Cannon, M., Coughlan, H., Singh, S., & Joober, R. (2016). From early intervention in psychosis to youth mental health reform: A review of the evolution and transformation of mental health services for young people. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 51(3), 319-326. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1165-4

Stanley, J., Stanley, J., Balbontin, C., & Hensher, D. (2018). Social exclusion: The roles of mobility and bridging social capital in regional Australia. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. DOI:10.1016/j.tra.2018.05.015 

Tamminen, N., Solin, P., Barry, M. M., Kannas, L., Stengård, E., & Kettunen, T. (2016). A systematic concept analysis of mental health promotion. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 18(4), 177-198. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/14623730.2016.1204934

Villeneuve, D., & Kaufmann, V. (2020). Exploring the causes of social exclusion related to mobility for non-motorized households. Transportation Research Record. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0361198120926167

Yeoh, J., Yudi, M. B., Andrianopoulos, N., Yan, B. P., Clark, D. J., Duffy, S. J., Eccleston, D. (2017). Evolution of Australian percutaneous coronary intervention (from the Melbourne interventional group [mig] registry). The American Journal of Cardiology, 120(1), 47–54. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2017.03.258

Youth Affairs Council of WA (2018). The western Australian strategy to end homelessness: Youth homelessness action plan. Retrieved from https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2019-11/apo-nid268766.pdf

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