Abstract
Homelessness is one serious social issue which needs to be effectively addressed by the government and the overall society to provide assistance to homeless individuals. The focus is to actively align the population of homeless individuals with the mainstream features of society. Society can effectively adopt different approaches to address the issue of homelessness. The particular approach of the drop-in centres or access centres can be the feasible solution to this specific problem if it comes up with the specific consideration of the particular needs of the homeless individuals. These concerns can be crucial features of experience and the perceptions of service users about the specific approach to services. Proper consideration of the health concerns of homeless people can help service providers create a balanced approach to the provision of services.
The Experiences of the Service Users at the Homeless Drop-In Centre
Introduction
Homelessness is one of the growth prospects in the different societies. It immensely impacts the world’s population. The facet of homelessness can be described as the one specific condition of the individuals which comes up with the feature of inaccessibility or the facility of a permanent form of residence in their lives. The particular people who are characterized as homeless are most often not able to attain and sustain a safe and secure form of housing or shelter in their lives. The facet of homelessness comes with many considerations as this particular feature poses different forms of duties and social responsibilities for the whole society (Phillips, 2015). The role of government and the intervention of the whole society is immensely crucial to effectively address the prevailing issue of homelessness. Better consideration from the different government institutes and the social facets can be helpful in reducing or minimising the problem of homelessness.
The drop-in centre is one crucial feature in the broader concept of homelessness. Drop-in centres can be defined as one specific form of shelter for homeless individuals that provides different services to homeless people. The drop-in centres’ service has the particular objective of providing assistance to homeless individuals with different social and health concerns. The concept of the drop-in centre is somewhat different from the general form of the homeless shelter because it provides different services to a particular group of youth, which can be identified as the disadvantaged group of the whole community. These particular individuals can identify the specific features of homelessness, people who go through with the issue of any kind of addiction or psychological issues.
The availability of different health is one of the core aims of the homeless drop-in centres. It comes with the necessary approach to provide medical and psychological aid to those people who are the underprivileged group of society. An open form of accessibility is adopted in drop-in centres. The main objective of the feature of the specific form of the homeless drop-in centre is to help homeless people with the provision of effective health services to them. These health services can also be identified in the crucial form of psychological and emotional aid to the homeless individuals who suffer from the different forms of trauma. The three main objectives of the homeless drop-in centre are to effectively provide shelter, food, and the necessary advice to the homeless people so they can effectively sustain their lives. The form of advice can be considered as the provision of health services and the necessary form of counselling to deal with the various forms of psychological concerns (Turnbull et al., 2007).
Undoubtedly, the particular role of the drop-in centre is to help homeless individuals reconnect to the normal paradigm of the world. The particular form of the object can be achieved by the drop-in centre to give necessary medical and mental aid to people who immensely suffer from different psychological aspects. It is crucial to identify the particular perceptions and the experiences of the service users in the form of homeless individuals to assess the effectiveness of the drop-in centre in case of an aspect of homelessness. The appropriateness of these particular centres can only be analyzed to critically understand the fact of how they positively change the lives of homeless people. The particular form of health standards and the provision of the services play a major role in the enhancement of the availability and effectiveness of health services in the case of homeless people.
Literature Review
The prospect of the effectiveness of the health services in the case of the homeless drop-in centre has been a point of concern for many years. Different researchers and social activists critically analyze the provision of health services for homeless individuals to evaluate the effectiveness of these particular programs of shelters and propose better solutions to deal with the different problems concerning the aspect of homelessness in the country. The main purpose of the necessary research is to present more effective solutions in the provision of better health and psychological services to individuals who suffer from the calamity of the absence of shelters in their lives.
The particular area of attention for the drop-in centre is to provide necessary help to the youth of the country who suffer from the issue of homelessness aligned with different psychological issues. Addiction is one of the critical issues in the case of youth, which is addressed by the drop-in centre. The necessary provision of food, shelter, clothing, and hygiene services is the basic aim of the particular homeless drop-in centre. It also comes up with the form of aid in case of critical issues, which can be identified as the need of the higher level in case of homeless individuals, mostly in case of youth (Dobson, 2011). Particular health services programs such as substance use treatment, provision of mental health care, and programs related to the chronic disease of HIV can be considered as the specific health services provided by the homeless drop-in centre. The facet of the drop-in centres also considers taking necessary measures to effectively deal with the social and health features, which can be considered as the barriers in the case of homeless individuals, to approaching and accessing the health services from the drop-in centre.
The particular approach of “come as you are” is adopted and properly implemented by the homeless drop-in centre to facilitate the individuals who already immensely suffer in their lives. The main objective of the open access approach for homeless people in the case of health and other services is to bring necessary confidence in their lives and help them with their problems. These forms of service provision are crucial and effective as they align and positively engage service users with the different paradigms of services. These particular services can be identified in the form of different health services and essential services for the survival of homeless individuals (Conradson, 2003). A particular feature of the specific location of the homeless drop-in centre plays a crucial role in the overall effectiveness of the services provided to homeless individuals. If homeless individuals have easy access to the drop-in centre, then the facet of the service provision can be increased. It becomes easy for individuals to access the services provided by the centre if they are located in easy places. It is crucial to mention that the specific characteristics of the staff members of the homeless drop-in centre also play a crucial role in the overall effectiveness of the health services provided by these centres (Pedersen et al., 2016). These particular features impact the specific perceptions of the service users about the effectiveness and the provision of the services presented by the homeless drop-in centre. The characteristics of the staff and the overall environment of the homeless drop-in centre immensely impact the particular perceptions and the opinions of the service users about the proper availability and usefulness of the different health services from the homeless drop-in centre.
The particular approach of the drop-in centres or access centres is to effectively and efficiently provide the services of safety and health to the homeless people (Hwang, 2001). This specific facet in the case of homeless individuals can only be achieved with the proper consideration of the basic needs and the concerns of people who belong to a particular group of society. The prime focus of this type of service provider is to address the health and psychological issues faced by the youth of the country. The aspect of services in the case of drop-in centres can be characterized by the different features, which can be identified as the different forms of programs such as food programs and street outreach. Shelter services and counselling are also crucial features of concern in the case of homeless drop-in centres. The evidence provided by the research study indicates the specific form of drop-in centre services used by homeless youth. According to one survey, a majority of the homeless youth use the specific service of food program presented by the drop-in centres, while there is also a number of individuals who utilize the service of counselling to get health and psychological aid from the particular prospect of homeless drop-in centres.
It is crucial to understand and effectively consider the different concerns of the service users, which appear in the case of the particular services provided by the homeless drop-in centres. The broader prospect of the service provision comes up with the two crucial elements of barriers and facilitators that appear in the case of homeless drop-in centres. These features sometimes remain unclear in the case of the particular form of engagement from the service users. It is crucial to understand the particular features that play a role in the reluctance of some homeless individuals to use the different services provided by drop-in centres.
The sustainability of the services provided by the drop-in centres is another crucial feature which impacts the particular approach of the service users. This particular feature immensely influences the perception of homeless individuals about the paradigm of services. Drop-in centres in the country were developed to use their potential to facilitate the homeless youth and effectively engage them in the mainstream approach of society (Slesnick et al., 2008). It is an immensely feasible and effective approach to critically consider the different social and psychological concerns of homeless individuals to effectively align the features of services with their particular needs and requirements. The necessary availability of information regarding homeless drop-in centres helps homeless individuals to approach these service centres. The adaptability of the necessary form to structure the paradigm of the homeless drop-in centres is crucial to fulfilling the need for services in the case of homeless people. Proper interventions in the case of services related to the aspect of homeless individuals are crucial as they provide the necessary guidelines to the service providers in the form of homeless drop-in centres. The proper consideration and identification of the different needs also help to positively enhance the perceptions and experiences of the service users due to the effectiveness and the facet of the necessary concern. A proper understanding of the social and psychological problems of the homeless people also helps the access centres to effectively propose different necessary services or facilities to the homeless youth. Proper access to the services for the service users ultimately increases the effectiveness of the initiatives taken by the homeless drop-in centres.
Attainment of the necessary and timely form of feedback from the service users also plays a major role in the overall effective approach to the services of the homeless drop-in or access centres. This paradigm can help service providers adopt the particular features that are the main concerns and needs of homeless youth. It also effectively provides indications about the main reasons for the prevailing issues in the case of homelessness. It is crucial for the drop-in centres to analyze the possible reasons for the prevailing issue of homelessness in society. The proper consideration of the economic feature in case of homeless individuals also a vital role in the overall availability of the different services for the homeless people. The paradigm of the quality of the services can be enhanced in the case of the drop-in centres with the proper utilization of the resources. This consideration ultimately enhances the approach of homeless individuals based on their experiences and perceptions of the availability of the necessary services. Proper consideration of the features of the homeless as a serious social issue ultimately enhances the effectiveness of the services provided by the homeless drop-in centres or access centres (Hudson et al., 2010). Health concerns are one of the crucial features in the case of homeless individuals, which come up with many other forms of consideration. It is immensely crucial for the access centres to properly identify the health issues and take necessary measures to deal with these issues in the case of individuals who are characterized as homeless. Different studies indicate that there is a high form of health hazards in the case of homeless individuals as they are identified as the deprived group of society which does not have the necessary form of health facilities. Health concerns in the case of homeless individuals can be identified in the major forms of different psychological concerns. These particular psychological features negatively impact the overall health approach of the individuals who suffer from the problem of the absence of shelter in their lives.
Conclusion
Homelessness is one of the chronic issues which needs to be actively considered, and take necessary measures to deal with this problem. The particular prospect of homeless drop-in centres or access centres can be considered an effective solution to provide the necessary social and health services to homeless individuals. The facet of the proper provision of services can only be achieved with the consideration of the requirements that prevail in the case of homeless individuals. Health services are one of the crucial concerns that can only be attained by identifying particular needs. The particular forms of the experiences and perceptions of the service users play a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of the functioning of the access centres.
References
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Dobson, R., 2011. Conditionality and homelessness services; ‘practice realities’ in a drop-in centre. Soc. Policy Soc. 10, 547–557.
Hudson, A.L., Nyamathi, A., Greengold, B., Slagle, A., Koniak-Griffin, D., Khalilifard, F., Getzoff, D., 2010. Health-seeking challenges among homeless youth. Nurs. Res. 59, 212.
Hwang, S.W., 2001. Homelessness and health. Can. Med. Assoc. J. 164, 229–233.
Pedersen, E.R., Tucker, J.S., Kovalchik, S.A., 2016. Facilitators and barriers of drop-in center use among homeless youth. J. Adolesc. Health 59, 144–153.
Phillips, L., 2015. Homelessness: perception of causes and solutions. J. Poverty 19, 1–19.
Slesnick, N., Glassman, M., Garren, R., Toviessi, P., Bantchevska, D., Dashora, P., 2008. How to open and sustain a drop-in center for homeless youth. Child. Youth Serv. Rev. 30, 727–734.
Turnbull, J., Muckle, W., Masters, C., 2007. Homelessness and health. Can. Med. Assoc. J. 177, 1065–1066.
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