Financial Support on Social Support Outreach Programs

This paper discusses the importance of financial support for social support outreach programs and their role in society. It highlights the need for continued funding from the Queensland state government.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT ON SOCIAL SUPPORT OUTREACH PROGRAMS 1
PARLIAMENTARY SUBMISSION
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Course
Date
To the Queensland State Government Committee:
I take this opportunity to air out my views on the great role played by social support outreach
programs and hence propose the need for continued support from the Queensland state
government through funding them.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT ON SOCIAL SUPPORT OUTREACH PROGRAMS 2
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
2.0 Background................................................................................................................................4
3.0 The Important Role of Social Support Outreach Programs.......................................................5
3.1 Social Support Programs in providing Social Support and Coping Skills.............................5
3.1.1 Evidence..........................................................................................................................6
3.2 Social Support Programs in Creating Awareness on Healthcare Services............................7
3.2.1 Evidence..........................................................................................................................7
3.3 Social Support Programs in the Fight against Gender Equality.............................................8
3.3.1 Evidence..........................................................................................................................9
4.0 Financial Needs of Social Support Outreach Programs..........................................................10
5.0 References................................................................................................................................10

FINANCIAL SUPPORT ON SOCIAL SUPPORT OUTREACH PROGRAMS 3
Executive summary
This paper gives a brief overview of the important role played by the social support outreach
programs in the current society. The main aim of this overview is to prove that these programs
really deserve the necessary support from the Queensland state government. Among the distinct
roles of these programs are: fight against suicide, prevention, and HIV/AIDs and gender equality
sensitization. Based on these important roles, the paper concludes by proposing that these
programs deserve support from the state government of Queensland in order to be able to
accomplish their tasks.

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1.0 Introduction
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.
2.0 Background
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

FINANCIAL SUPPORT ON SOCIAL SUPPORT OUTREACH PROGRAMS 5
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.
3.0 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.
3.1 Social Support Programs in providing Social Support and Coping Skills

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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)
3.1.1 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

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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).
3.2 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,

FINANCIAL SUPPORT ON SOCIAL SUPPORT OUTREACH PROGRAMS 8
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).
3.2.1 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)
3.3 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

FINANCIAL SUPPORT ON SOCIAL SUPPORT OUTREACH PROGRAMS 9
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).
3.3.1 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

FINANCIAL SUPPORT ON SOCIAL SUPPORT OUTREACH PROGRAMS 10
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).
4.0 Financial Needs of Social Support Outreach Programs
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.

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