The Homeless Population

The aim of this report was to investigate what disadvantages the homeless face in Australia, the steps that are taken by the government and other support groups to alleviate or eliminate these disadvantages and what still needs to be done in order to solve the homelessness epidemic in Australia.

Homelessness can be a detrimental experience as a result of being exposed to constant stress and unpredictable weather. It may lead to families and individuals having to find a temporary refuge in an unsafe environment, or obtain food from resources that can be harmful. Individuals and families caught in these predicaments frequently are ineptitude in areas of housing stability, managing money skills, coping skills, and support systems which would be significant in helping them modify hardships. As a result, a vast proportion of homeless families, individuals, and children have been exposed to a variety of traumatic occurrences such as childhood abuse, domestic violence, combat-related trauma, sexual assault, and the like.

"Home?" What is it? A home is having shelter, feeling secure, safe and connected. There are 105,237 homeless people in Australia (Homelessness Australia, 2012). Homelessness arises from many situations such as domestic violence, unemployment, mental illness, family breakdown and drug and alcohol abuse. These can all contribute to the level of homelessness in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2011). Being homeless can mean that you are socially excluded from your community. For the homeless this can mean a greater risk of them having poor physical health, an increased personal safety risk and their psychological well-being is also a lot worse off. The homeless have lost the basic human rights of having a stable living life, health

Homelessness in New York City has undoubtedly changed tremendously since the 1990’s. In 2015 today it is no secret that there is a huge homelessness crisis in New York City. We see them on most if not every train ride either asking for money, food or in a corner using the rain as a form of shelter. Often time’s people look down upon homeless people and think they all have mental or drug issues or didn't work hard enough to make it on this place where people come to so called have a better life. Although it might be true that these homeless people might acquire these issues it is imperative for us to understand how to go to the positions they are in today. In the 1990’s although homelessness did exist it wasn't as extreme as it is today. We might be surprised to know that certain people that we see working the low paying jobs or even certain students at school might be homeless.

Young Australians being homeless in 2009 were 62% females who were concerned about homeless and leaving home at the age between 13 to 17 years old 73%. The young people who were homeless and had other concerns in the age between 18 to 25 years was 65% of them likely to be 92% female (show in figure 1.1). (Website 3) The health issues with in young homeless individuals include Mental illness and Mental disorders. Evidence shows that depression, anxiety and post- traumatic stress disorders are experienced by individuals young homeless Australians.75% people with Mental illness first exhibit symptoms before the age of 25(brochure) . It can effect a person’s psychological, physical and emotional and spiritual wellbeing. (1st website) People that have mental illness are the people that tend to struggle to function is most aspects in their life. This may include securing and maintaining a home or a job may be extremely difficult to do (1st website). As an individuals it might happen once and make a full recovery afterwards. For others however, it may take a longer time to recover as their mental illness as it may have more sever impacts on the quality of

Currently, homelessness has become one of the major social problems in Australia. It is common to see homeless people sleep at street sides in major cities like Sydney and Melbourne. According to the latest statistics from the ABS Census of Housing and Population, there are 105,237 people in Australia who are homeless at present (Homelessness Australia, 2016). In other words, there is one person who is homeless in every 200 people in Australia. What is worse, the rate of homelessness has been growing in most states in Australia in the past few years.

Homelessness is a complex social issue with a variety of economic and social factors such as poverty, lack of affordable housing, physical and mental health, addictions, and community/family breakdowns. Homelessness has increased its number by at least a 1% since last year, reached nearly 554,000 people who are living in harsh conditions.

There are more than 500,000 homeless people in America (Johnson). There are many reasons and causes for people to end up living this way, but the biggest cause is tragic life events, for like loss of loved ones, job loss, domestic violence, divorce, and family disputes. Other reasons for homelessness are depression, untreated mental illness, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), and physical disabilities ("Top Causes of Homelessness in America."). Many people see homelessness as a bad thing and an issue, but it does serve a purpose in society.

Homelessness is one the most ignored problems in the United States with citizen and politician. Homeless people are walked by and ignored. Nobody ever thinks that they will be homeless. Due to the economy, people live paycheck to paycheck making house payments very difficult. Most people will want to believe most homeless people are drug addicts or alcoholics, but most people will be surprise to know that it is no all true. Veterans with PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) have a high risk of becoming homeless. Homelessness is cause by drug and alcohol dependencies, the economy and veterans who suffers from PTSD or other forms of mental illness.

Homelessness is more than just the absence of a permanent address. It is a condition in which a large, growing percentage of people in the United States and most likely the rest of the world find themselves. It means being cut off from relatives, social groups, and community organizations and losing a sense of belonging to society (Brown&Casey, 2014). Homelessness in America is a long-standing and pervasive social issue. Health care, in particular, poses a challenge as homeless individuals struggle to obtain even the most basic care. In the current healthcare system, attempts to provide adequate care for the homeless are frustrating for patients and care providers. The homeless population is anything, but stable, and their lifestyle promotes illness and disease, not health.

The issue of homelessness in America has been evident since the early 1600’s. Across the country men, women and children spend their nights on the streets not knowing when or if they will ever find a permanent home. States and federal officials or city councils have tried to alleviate or at least reduce the number of homeless over the last several decades at a city, state or national level but it continues to be an ongoing problem. There is a multitude of factors that account for the growing homeless population that affects each state in the country differently. Though there are many contributing factors that contribute to the amount of people living on the street at any given night in the U.S. An effective way to address the problem of homelessness in America is to continue creating affordable housing, maintaining assistance programs, and continue creating workforce

These include among others, cost, government policies, ignorance, poor infrastructure and psychological factors. Cost involves high cost of healthcare both on the individual side and the health care providers’ side. Government policies should be set up in a way that looks after the health of its citizens. The ignorance of the homeless population when it comes to their own health and their psychological challenges also acts as a hindrance to accessing healthcare. If these hurdles are adequately addressed, the homeless population will be able to access quality healthcare just like the other populations. Subsequent paragraphs will dig deeper into these factors trying to show how the health information system will rescue the current state of affairs in the health of the homeless

While circumstances can vary, an individual’s first choice is rarely to choose homelessness due to the inability to afford housing or other unforeseen circumstances. The support of friends, family, and community programs/shelters are first suggestions when a person becomes displaced. When these suggestions become inadequate, living on the streets is the next favorable/affordable option. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, on a night in January of 2015, there were 564,708 people homeless in the United States (para 3). On a larger scale, more than one million people are homeless in America and of that population, 50 percent are chronically addicted to alcohol, drugs, or both (Substance abuse mental health, 2011 para 6). Research has brought more attention to risk factors that contribute to homelessness such as the epidemic of substance abuse.

The purpose of their study was to establish a better understanding of the characteristics of the mentally-ill homeless adults. Upon the collection of data through a review of the archived shelter medical records of the 74 subjects included in the study, the researchers aggregated and analyzed the data, calculating the medication adherence rates for the previous 30days. Mental illness and substance use disorders in the study were identified in 67.6 percent and 44.6 percent of the participants respectively. These findings prompted the acknowledgement that homeless individuals suffering from mental illness that specialized transitional shelters serve constitutes of population whose psychiatric, social and mental needs are complex. Thus, the characteristics of homeless populations are complicated by the numerous needs that need systematic assessment and thoughtful addressing to enhance the likelihood of successful outcomes (Viron, Bello, Freudenreich, & Shtasel, 2014). Importantly, it is evident that mental illness and addiction that can be attributed to substance abuse are common phenomena among the homeless populations. These prompt the study to recommend integrated and patient-centered treatment services with emphasis being given to addiction

Increase the number of the free clinics that will provide some health issue. Homeless population are at risk for chronic illness making them vulnerable to volience and substance abuse. This population has limited access to resources; difficulty in essentials of daily living: food, clothing, shelter. Often these individual has an underlining mental health issues or substance abuse problems. They do not have support outside their homeless community. Also, these people are judged quickly and written off as a loss cause, helpless or addicts.