Research the following areas, and write approximately two paragraphs on each, outlining the nature of the area and its potential impact on a person, as well as any needs or issues that might be associated with it.
Mental Health is defined as condition of a person with regard to his or her emotional and psychological well-being (Allen et al. 2014). Any disturbance in the equilibrium of this emotional and psychological well-being gives rise to mental illness. According to the Government of Australia (2014), one out of five Australians suffers from mental health complications.
The mental health of the person and common mental disorders are influenced by numerous economic, physical and social environments at different life stages. The risk factors associated with common mental health disorders are directly associated with the social inequalities (Allen et al. 2014). Greater is the inequality; higher is the chance of developing metal health threats among the vulnerable group of populations. The disadvantaged and poor people suffer disproportionately. However, those who lies in the middle of the social gradient, also gets affected. It is one of the prime importance that action is undertaken in order to up lift the conditions of day-to-day life starting from life, progressing through the stages of childhood, adolescence, family building, working and through old age (Allen et al. 2014).
According to National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Government (2017), Alcohol has a complex role in the society of Australia. The majority of Australians consume alcohol out of relaxation, enjoyment and sociability. This high amount of alcohol consumption cause serious adverse effects. However, a substantial population of people consume alcohol at a percentage that increases their risks of alcohol-associated harm. Australian has a high percentage of illicit use of drugs. In 2016, 3.1 million Australians were reported of getting victims of illicit drug. The common illicit drugs used in Australia were Cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine (Government of Australia 2017).
In numerous countries, including Australia, consumption of alcohol and drugs is associated with significant burden of mortality, fatal disease and injury. In addition to health related risks, the over consumption of alcohol leads to significant economic and social burden on the families, individuals, bystanders and broader communities (Government of Australia 2017). One of the main threats of alcohol and drug misuse is mental health complications. According to the reports published by Baker et al. (2012), high rate of alcohol consumption is associated with depression and anxiety disorders.
According to the reports published by ABC news (2017), the total number of prison population in Australia is at its highest-ever recorded level. Over the past few decades the rate and the number of people who are imprisoned around states of Australia and its territories has risen considerably. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), an average of 40,577 people in Australia was imprisoned during the first quarter of 2017.
The reasons behind the increase in the rate of imprisonment is increase in the rate of criminal activity, change in the policies related to justice and practices and inequalities in social and economic determinants of health like substance abuse, poverty, unemployment and other community cohesion (Parliament of Australia 2017).
In Australia, the statutory child protection is governed by the territory and the state governments. Here the departments are responsible for the protection of child via providing assistance to the vulnerable group of children population are lies at an increased risk of getting abused, harmed or neglected or whose guardians are unable to bestow them with optimal care and protection (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2017).
The main victims of the adult maltreatment are the children of the Australian aboriginals or Torres Strait Islanders and other asylum seekers (Reed et al. 2012). Children who are subjected to adult maltreatment are reported to suffer from the symptoms of adult anxiety, depression and impairment of both mental and physical health. Moreover, some of the children who are subject to adult maltreatment or sexual abuse are known to become victims of substance misuse (Herrenkohl et al. 2013).
Family or domestic violence is not always physical. It can target anyone, anytime irrespective of age and gender. Types of physical violence at home include punching, hitting, pushing or chocking. Apart from physical violence other aspects of family violence include verbal and emotional violence (Australian Department of Human Service 2017).
According to Graham?Bermann et al. (2012), children who are exposed to family violence lies at an increase risk of getting affected by traumatic stress symptoms and post traumatic stress disorder. However, prior treating children who are exposed to family violence, it is important to conduct a comprehensive assessment of traumatic events.
The term homelessness if difficult to define. There are different definitions associated to quantify homelessness however, the statistics are not straight forward. According to the 2011 census, the number of people in Australia who are homeless is 105,000 and this is significantly higher than the estimated report published in 2006 (The Guardian 2017).
The reasons for homelessness also vary and include mixture systematic failures, structural factors and other individual circumstances. Of these factors, the domestic and family violence is considered to be as the common reason behind the increasing rate of homeless population in Australia. Other associated reasons behind homelessness are housing affordability and lack of employment (The Guardian 2017).
In Australia, poverty is regarded as a major policy and advocacy focus for Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS). The measurement of poverty is done in different ways like measurement of wealth or family income via employing poverty lines or via examining what important items the population is missing out due to the lack of proper income or been compelled to expend more than their income on certain costs above others. Fr example, spending on housing and other amenities instead of using on daily food and this is termed as deprivation.
According to ACOSS (2017), out of 3 million people living below the poverty line in Australia, 731,000 are children. The major impact of children who are victims of poverty is malnutrition and developmental delays. Other tragic outcomes of poverty includes suicide tool due to several stressor elements.
Health is defined as a state of being free from illness and injury. Health is the board term which encompasses both physical and mental health. In Australia, healthcare is procured by both government and private organisations (Australian Government Department of Health 2017).
Source: Australian Government Department of Health 2017
There are numerous measures which are employed to ascertain the health condition of a person or a group of population. Some of these common measures are life expectancy, morbidity, mortality and disability-adjusted life year (DALY). Among morbidity there are co-morbidity, incidence and prevalence.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2016, the average age of the typical Australians varies across the states and territories, A typical Tasmanian is regarded as oldest of all the Australians and the average age bracket is 42 while a typical Northern Territorian is youngest among all the sub-groups of Australians with an average age group of 34 years. However, the average life lead by typical Australian aboriginals is significantly lower than the leading population of Australia and thus representing a high discrepancy in health or reflecting health inequality.
This low age bracket of life expectancy among the Australians is attributed to high rate of mental illness this mental and physical illnesses like cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and cancer. Public efforts should be undertaken in order to improve the overall mental and physical health of the people in order to reduce the high rate of mortality (Lawrence, Hancock and Kisely 2013).
Disability is a condition that restricts mental health of a person along with his or her sensory and mobility functions. This disability may arise due to accidents, trauma, genetics or other non-communicable disease. The disability can be permanent or temporary, lifelong or acquired, invisible or visible, partial or total. As per the demographic report published by Department of Social Service Australia (2017), 4 millions of people residing in Australia suffer from certain disabilities. This indicates that one out of 3 people in Australia has disability (Department of Social Service Australia 2017).
Apart from hampering the mental wellbeing of the person and his family member, disability also has a huge impact on employment. According to Department of Social Service Australia 2017, differently abled or disabled people who fall under the age bracket of 15 – 64 years, show low participation and higher unemployment rates in comparison to the people without disability. This job related discrimination along with poor wages further increases the rate of anxiety and depression disorders among the disable group of population (Department of Social Service Australia 2017).
Behaviours of concern is sometime known as challenging behaviours. The major behaviour of concern among the person with mental disability is any kind of behaviour that causes stress, risk of self harm or harm to family members or their carers. The behaviour thus demands proper consideration and investigation as it is regarded as the major hurdle towards achieving best quality of life for the person who is suffering from mental health illness and may impose as an occupational health along with safety concern for other staffs (Australian Government 2017).
The unemployment rate in Australia has hit 5.9% in February in 2017. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the total number of people with jobs has reduce by 6400. Moreover, the workers who are employed are unwilling to work more hours. The high rate of unemployment is affecting the Australian youth (Hutchens et al. 2017). Almost one-third of young population of Australia are unemployed or underemployed (Davidson et al. 2017).
This high rate of unemployment is generating economic crisis and this economic crisis is in turn resulting in high rate of suicidal incidences among the Australian youth. Apart from suicidal attempts, these unemployed youths are getting victims of substance misuse due to the lack of financial security and this is turn is leading towards chronic occurrence of mental illness leading to depression and anxiety.
Homelessness and consumption of alcohol or drug related mental health conditions are considered as a separate service under Australian government. However, these three pillars of Australian society are inter-related. According to the reports published by Flatau et al. (2013), higher percentage of people who are homeless in Australia are supposed to suffer from high degree of alcohol and drug abuse along with mental health complications like depression and anxiety. This depression and anxiety arise as a result of lack of financial security and social exclusion arising out of homelessness. In order to fight against the depression, they take help of intoxication and this come in the form of alcohol and drug abuse. High rate of intoxication in turn increases the susceptibility of getting affected with other mental health complications (Flatau et al. 2013).
References
Abs.gov.au. 2016. Census reveals the ‘typical’ Australian. [online] Available at: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/mediareleasesbyCatalogue/5E54C95D3D5020C6CA2580FE0013A809?OpenDocument [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].
Allen, J., Balfour, R., Bell, R. and Marmot, M., 2014. Social determinants of mental health. International Review of Psychiatry, 26(4), pp.392-407.
Aph.gov.au. 2017. Chapter 2 : The drivers behind the growth in the Australian imprisonment rate. [online] Available at: https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/senate/legal_and_constitutional_affairs/completed_inquiries/2010-13/justicereinvestment/report/c02 [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].
Australia.gov.au. 2017. Health | australia.gov.au. [online] Available at: https://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/health [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].
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Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2017. Child protection. [online] Available at: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-statistics/health-welfare-services/child-protection/overview [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].
Baker, A.L., Thornton, L.K., Hiles, S., Hides, L. and Lubman, D.I., 2012. Psychological interventions for alcohol misuse among people with co-occurring depression or anxiety disorders: a systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 139(3), pp.217-229.
Davidson, H. 2017. Third of Australian youth have no job or are underemployed, report finds. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/27/third-of-australian-youth-have-no-job-or-are-underemployed-report-finds [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].
Dementia.com.au. 2017. Reducing Behaviours Of Concern. [online] Available at: https://www.dementia.com.au/getattachment/d50fa2bc-d4e6-47a8-b20b-7f69b62b5024/ReBOC-Guide-2012-3-MB.aspx [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].
Flatau, P., Conroy, E., Thielking, M., Clear, A., Hall, S., Bauskis, A., Farrugia, M. and Burns, L., 2013. How integrated are homelessness, mental health and drug and alcohol services in Australia?.
Graham?Bermann, S.A., Castor, L.E., Miller, L.E. and Howell, K.H., 2012. The impact of intimate partner violence and additional traumatic events on trauma symptoms and PTSD in preschool?aged children. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 25(4), pp.393-400.
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Herrenkohl, T.I., Hong, S., Klika, J.B., Herrenkohl, R.C. and Russo, M.J., 2013. Developmental impacts of child abuse and neglect related to adult mental health, substance use, and physical health. Journal of family violence, 28(2), pp.191-199.
Hutchens, G. 2017. Australia’s unemployment rate rises to 5.9% with 6,400 jobs lost in February. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/mar/16/australias-unemployment-rate-rises-to-59-with-6400-jobs-lost-in-february [Accessed 27 Feb. 2018].
Lawrence, D., Hancock, K.J. and Kisely, S., 2013. The gap in life expectancy from preventable physical illness in psychiatric patients in Western Australia: retrospective analysis of population based registers. Bmj, 346, p.f2539.
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Reed, R.V., Fazel, M., Jones, L., Panter-Brick, C. and Stein, A., 2012. Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in low-income and middle-income countries: risk and protective factors. The Lancet, 379(9812), pp.250-265.
The guardian, 2017. Homeless in australia: the shifting numbers and definitions [online]. 1(1). Available from https://www.theguardian.com/society/datablog/2017/aug/07/homeless-in-australia-the-shifting-numbers-and-definitions. [Accessed on 27th February 2018]
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