We all understand the importance of having a strong social connection especially when it comes to maintaining emotional health, physical health and the general wellbeing of our bodies. These can only be achieved through programs and activities which encourage gentle exercise, social connections and promote the confidence of victims to self-manage their health issues. The social support which is given by the social support outreach programs not only gives people emotional and physical comfort but also gives them confidence that they belong to a community of people who love, care and value them as well.
We all need that support, especially when under difficulty situations but maintaining the healthy social support networks amongst ourselves has been hard because of the daily struggles in order to make our heads meet (Greeson et al, 2015, p.350). This has been entirely left under the control of social support outreach programs entirely. They have also been proved to be committed in their duties as depicted by the decline in the number of victims of suicide which initially had been rampant as a result of depression.
Under the current hard economic times, many people are facing health problems which require both medical and social support attention. For instance, refugees from countries under conflicts are running from time to time in order to seek refuge in different countries. Before fleeing from their countries, these people usually undergo some devastating moments which can easily lead them into depression (Health topic quickview). Also, youthful people are the future of any country and without being encouraged, a country cannot brag to have a promising future. Youthful people, therefore, require need to be encouraged and mentored in the right way. Old people also need to be taken care of in society because they already played their roles when they were young to ensure the growth of the economy.
No country which does not have orphans who needs support both materially and spiritually as well as sick people who have reached a point of despair and require encouraged in order to live longer (Mental health and suicide data). All these sectors require specialized trained people who can easily be coordinated to ensure all the victims are reached at their point of need. Social support outreach programs have proved efficient in delivering these services in different countries.
The Important Role of Social Support Outreach Programs
Just like health programs provide health services, social support programs, on the other hand, provide social support in society (Commonwealth Parliament, and Parliament House, 2013). Social support, in this case, is used to denote the psychological and material resources which are provided by social networks with an aim of helping people to cope with stressful situations (Missing Title Information). Social support comes in different ways, sometimes it may involve helping people manage their personal hygiene when sick or help them financially to afford basic needs such as food and clothing. In other situations, it may involve encouraging people and giving them hope when they are at the point of despair (Constantine, Wilton, and Caldwell, 2003, p.20). This mainly touches on refugees in the refugee camps, orphans in orphanage homes and elderly people who have been abandoned by their guardians.
Social Support Programs in providing Social Support and Coping Skills
As anyone can testify, suicide cases have turned out to be a bleak reality. For instance, 2010 suicide statistics indicated that one person in a group of 5000 people dies through suicide every year. This is approximately 1.4% of all the deaths in the whole world. The figure has however been increasing since 2010 to an extent of surpassing the number of deaths which result from homicides (Commonwealth Parliament, and Parliament House, 2013). Among the teens, it has taken a staggering toll to become the second-leading cause of death. However, the increasing number of social support outreach programs has played a major role in changing the statistics. In their line of duty, social workers have been able to identify clients who are at risk of suicide and help them out of the situation (Commonwealth Parliament, and Parliament House, 2013). To achieve that, social workers have been trained on how to identify, assess potential victims of suicide and the necessary actions to take in order to help suicidal teens.
Through social support outreach programs, social workers have been able to create awareness and understanding of the main causes of suicide among teens, the first step is to encourage people to discuss it. Additionally, social support outreach programs have collaborated on initiatives which reduce suicide rates globally (Missing Title Information). In fact, suicidal cases have turned to be an issue of major concern for policymakers to the extent of coming up with policies and new approaches which can generate greater awareness. Among the new approaches to deal with suicide, social support programs have created guidelines to help in training clinicians and social workers on how to deal with potential victims of suicide (Commonwealth Parliament, and Parliament House, 2013)
Evidence
In Australia alone, the role of social support outreach programs in the fight against suicide has been evident from the comparison between the suicide rates some few years ago with the current rates. For instance, the statistics of 2016 indicated that the suicide rate in Australia was 5.7 deaths in every100, 000 people which accumulated to an approximately 2, 866 deaths in the year (Missing Title Information). However, this was a decline as compared to the statistics of 2007 which had indicated that 6.6 deaths were registered in every 100, 000 people. From 2016, the rates have continued to decline following the increased awareness being created by social support programs (Commonwealth Parliament, and Parliament House, 2013).
Social Support Programs in Creating Awareness on Healthcare Services
Currently, the HIV/AIDs epidemic has become a big threat to human life. It is has gone to the extent of becoming the second leading cause of death among adolescents. As scaring and stigmatized as it is, most people especially the victims have remained in the cocoons of fear (Latkin, Sherman and Knowlton, 2003, p.332). The spread of the disease has also been high in the past few years because of the lack of awareness on how to mitigate the risks of contracting the disease. On the side of the victims, it has also not been easy for them leading to high death rates as a result of the lack of awareness on how to manage the situation (Hargreaves et al, 2016, p.320). With the intervention of social support outreach programs however, the trends are slowly changing. This is because of the impacts of support programs to change the perception of people towards the epidemic. For instance, social support organizations have come up with strategies of creating awareness like AIDs campaigns and fighting stigmatization among others (Rajabiun et al, 2007, p.20).
Through these campaigns, society members have been educated on ways of mitigating the risk factors of contracting HIV/AIDs like the use of condoms and abstinence. Among the affected members, they are educated on how to manage their conditions to live long (Yi et al, 2016, p.599). This involves taking ARVs and also maintaining high levels of hygiene. The programs have played a major role in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDs and minimizing death rates as the rest of the disease (Masquillier et al, 2015, p.215).
Evidence
At the end of 2011, the cases of people who had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDs in Australia were 31, 364, and just around 24,731 were living with the disease. Moving forward, in 2012 the cases had increased, with 35000 being reported to have the disease. According to Kirby Institute, 85% of the affected people had fallen victims between 2009 and 2013. In the year 2012, between 12500 and 15500 people were reported to be living with HIV while the average number of HIV/AIDs victims in the country was 25,708 (HIV Statistics). This was a decline from the statistics of 2011. From 2012, the rates at which people get infected with HIV/AIDs in Australia, as well as death rates associated with the epidemic, have continued to decline (Australia). This has been attributed to the increasing number of social support programs which have concentrated on putting measures and creating awareness on the epidemic. Good examples of such programs which have played a major role, in this case, are the Aids Trust of Australia and the Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) (HIV Statistics)
Social Support Programs in the Fight against Gender Equality
A few years ago gender inequality was rampant in many countries and that had seen women continue being treated as lesser beings in many societies. As a result, discrimination in terms of educational opportunities and job opportunities followed to make women remain dependent on men for the whole of their lives. Domestic violence against women was also an order of the day in many communities because women had not been empowered (Jewkes, Flood and Lang, 2015, p.1580). Although laws were there to enforce equality in the society as far as getting a quality education and employment opportunities were concerned, cases of inequality occupied the headlines. This was because the approach used in ensuring gender equality was not effective enough to make the changes. People needed to first understand the reason why both female and male children needed the same opportunities but not forcing them into it (Bustelo, 2016, p.120). However, after social support programs came up to sensitize the community on the importance of giving female gender the same opportunities like the male gender changes began to be observed.
Through social support outreach programs, parents began to understand the power vested on the female gender as well as their unique abilities just like the case of the male gender (Pearse and Connell, 2016, p.30). As the world stands at the moment, female gender has gotten its space in society as well as in the leadership arena. Although there are some societies where women continue to be discriminated, more efforts by the social support outreach programs will soon see the world in a position of gender equality (Fleming et al, 2015). There are a number of programs which have taken the front line in ensuring gender equality. Some of those programs include the Australian Centre for Leadership for Women, Inspiring Women, Deloitte Australia and Women in Global Business Program among others (Thurston, et al, 2016, p.700).
Evidence
Following the determined approach of social support outreach programs in Australia to fight for the rights of women, the full-time gender pay gap has reduced to 14.1% in accordance with the statistics of 2017. Women in Australia current earn an average of $239.80 per week less than men (Gender Equality in Australia, 2018). This is a big step forward compared to some few years ago when the disparity as high as 40% (Australia’s gender equality scorecard). Looking at the statistics on the gender education gap, the same results are evident. Currently, more women are getting equal education and leadership opportunities just like men. This has been realized as a result of a social support program’s active role in sensitizing the society on female gender abilities (Khosla et al, 2017, p.59).
In their lines of duty, social support outreach programs require resources for various purposes depending on the activities to be accomplished. For instance, in the fight against HIV/AIDs, these programs must have machines to facilitate testing and counseling of society members, provide condoms and ARVs to the affected people. In the fight against suicide cases, the programs must hire specialized guidance and counseling specialists to help depressed people. All these resources must are paid by the program facilitators. In addition to these resources, there are other miscellaneous costs which must also be incurred in the course of operations such as transport costs, allowances for facilitators and food. The programs can barely raise half of those expenses and that has been a limiting factor in the progress of those programs. The Queensland state government should, therefore, continue to support these programs because the fruits of their hard work are clearly evident in many areas.
References
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