Key Areas for Participation and Inclusion of People with Psychological Disabilities in Australia - Example

Project Proposal: Identifying Key Areas for Participation and Inclusion of People with Psychological Disabilities in Australia The Need Psychological disability is one of the main forms of disabilities affecting a considerable percentage of the Australian population. Recently released figures indicate that one in every five Australians suffers from one form of psychological disability or another (Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHWA), 2017). Moreover, it is indicated that psychological disability is the third most significant cause of overall disability in Australia and that its contribution to the total number of productive years that are lost because of disability in the country is 27% (Mind Frame, 2017). These figures underscore the significance of psychological disability as a policy issue in general. Psychological disability is defined as a situation arising from any of the following three conditions: an emotional or nervous condition that restricts an individual’s ability to conduct daily activities; a mental illness that makes it necessary for one to be supervised; or a brain injury or stroke that leads to emotional or mental illness (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2015). A common thing in all the three main causes of psychological disability is that they incapacitate the ability of the affected individuals to go about their daily business normally. The issue of the need to build the capacity of communities to effectively address the problems related to psychological disability has received a considerable level of attention. In general, the Australian government seeks to address the social problems that people with disabilities experience in the community (Department of Social Services, Australian Government, 2016). The government, through its relevant agencies, uses a multi-pronged approach in addressing the issue of the challenges that people with disabilities in general face when they try to access or participate in mainstream social services and processes respectively. The essence of the approach is that exclusion and isolation of people with disabilities often compounds the problems that the individuals face (Department of Social Services, Australian Government, 2016). Because of this, it is prudent for the government and other stakeholders to develop and implement measures that can be used to address the problems related to the social experience of people with disabilities in general. In general, there is a need to build inclusive and accessible communities (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 4). However, so far, the focus of this approach has been on addressing the social needs of people with physical forms of disabilities at the expense of those with psychological forms of disabilities (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 4). For example, one of the major approaches that used by stakeholders is to ensure that all public buildings are based on the universal design which makes it easy for people with disabilities to access and make use of such public buildings (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 4). Moreover, increased participation in social, cultural and other community-based programmes is considered an important policy goal related to the need to build the capacity of communities to manage the issue of disability (Department of Social Services, Australian Government, 2016). However, the focus so far has been on increasing the level of participation of people with physical disabilities in social and cultural events as one of the main pillars of the approach. Community capacity is one of the most important focus areas of the ILC. Essentially, two outcomes define what is meant by community capacity. The first one is that people with disabilities should fully participate in community activities that everyone else participates in and that the people should benefit from these activities (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 4). The second outcome relates to the need for people with disabilities to use and benefit from the services that everyone else uses (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 14). Hence, community capacity is defined in terms of inclusion and participation. However, it is important to note that the process of adequately describing capacity building is challenging. For example, it is noted that capacity building can be carried out at multiple levels, including the individual and community levels (Leddy, 2003). Capacity building at the individual level entails enabling the individuals who are victims of social processes (in this case the people who with psychological disability) to overcome the barriers to inclusion and participation that they meet. On the other hand, self-help capacity building entails allowing members of the community to identify their needs before one develops the right approaches to addressing the identified needs (Kuipers & Sabuni, 2016). From the foregoing, it is clear that there is a need to re-examine the following: the priority areas for inclusion and participation of people with psychological disabilities in the community. Therefore, the proposed project will address the problem by identifying areas that require detailed policy action to ensure that the national strategic objectives on disability are achieved in Australia. The Response (Methodology for Implementation) The proposed project will address the problem identified in the previous section of this proposal because the findings of the survey will be used to provide a clear picture of what needs to be done to improve inclusion and participation initiatives for the target group. The proposed project will provide new insights in relation to the need to build the capacity of the community to help people with psychological disability to participate and be included in mainstream social activities. The proposed project seeks to collect quantitative data from participants (community members in general) to evaluate key priority areas regarding the issue of inclusion and participation of people with psychological disability that need to be addressed. The project is to take the form of a national survey to collect the opinions of the public about key issues related to inclusion and participation for people with disabilities and what needs to be done as part of the process of building the capacity of the community in relation to this issue. The proposed survey will be a one-off event. The process is expected to take between four and six weeks. Moreover, various groups of individuals are expected to benefit from the findings of the survey. First, various government agencies will use the findings of the project to refocus the current efforts at increasing the capacity of communities to include people with disabilities in mainstream activities. The findings of the study will present clear gaps that exist in the current policy environment about the issue. Therefore, government agencies will use the findings to streamline the policy objectives that are currently in use. Secondly, people with mental disabilities will benefit from the findings of the study. It is estimated that 3.4% of Australia’s population or about 770,500 people have one of the various forms of psychological disabilities (ABS, 2015). Moreover, the number of people with psychological disabilities is increasing every year because of various prevailing social and cultural factors (Department of Social Services, Australian Government, 2016). Therefore, the issue of psychological disability will require the attention of policy makers for a long time. The proposed project will provide clear guidelines on how communities can help these individuals to fully participate in mainstream social activities and avoid getting excluded from the community. It is important to note at this stage that exclusion and isolation are some of the most important triggers of suicide among people with mental illnesses (Suicide Prevention Australia, 2009, p. 4). Therefore, the findings of the anticipated project will help reduce the current trend in which a considerable percentage of people with mental disability commit suicide as a result of isolation and exclusion. As well, community-based organisations (CBOs) that are directly involved with programmes to help increase the level of inclusion and participation for people with disabilities will benefit from the project. Such organisations, which generally use the self-capacity building approach, will use the findings of the report to identify key areas that need to be prioritised in the fight against isolation and exclusion of people with disabilities. The proposed national survey relates to the third ILC focus area of community awareness and capacity building. To start with, the results of the survey will provide evidence that matches that which is identified as part of the first outcome of the community capacity area, which relates to the need for people with disabilities to participate in mainstream social activities. The survey will provide evidence of the extent to which members of the community understand barriers and rights for people with disabilities. Moreover, the survey will measure the extent to which there has been a positive change in the attitudes of individuals towards increased participation of people with psychological disabilities in mainstream social activities. The proposed project will also address the second activity outcome that relates to community capacity building initiatives, which is the extent to which people with disabilities (psychological disabilities in this case) can comfortably use social services. To this end, the project will help to shed light on the extent to which there has been an increased understanding of barriers in mainstream social services for people with disabilities. Also, the project will help shed light on the extent to which there is more inclusive behaviour, involvement and active participation of people with disabilities in mainstream social services. The anticipated project reflects the opinion on diversity and inclusion that is contained in the social constructionist view of disability. Under the social constructionist view, disability is seen as a function of the way particular aspects of the society are organised so that some members of the society find it hard to access them (Novo-Corti, 2010, p. 87). Under this view, the focus of disability is on how some members of the society are excluded from mainstream processes and services because of the way the processes, services or infrastructure have been organised or are conducted. In other words, under this theory, exclusion and disability are seen as social constructs as opposed to the view that disability is a result of features that are inherent in some individuals. The focus of the anticipated research will be on identifying the areas in which new policy action initiatives should be developed to ensure inclusion and participation for people with mental disability. Therefore, the project is rooted in the argument of the theory that the process of dealing with exclusion starts with identifying and removing the barriers to participation that disadvantage certain people in the community. Although the proposed project will rely on participants (the general public) as opposed to people with disability for data, the process of conducting it will take into consideration the needs of people with psychological disability. The items on the questionnaire will reflect the specific needs of people with psychological disabilities that relate to the attitudes of the public towards inclusion and participation of people with psychological disabilities in mainstream social activities. The Result As part of the proposed project, quantitative data will be collected from a sample that will represent the entire country. The findings will be used to identify key priority areas regarding building the capacity of the community to help people with psychological disabilities to participate and be included in mainstream social activities. The project will address the following specific objectives: i. To determine the attitudes of people towards the issue of inclusion of people with mental disability. ii. To evaluate the opinions of the public towards the need for people with disabilities to participate in mainstream social activities. iii. To assess the attitudes of the public towards barriers to inclusion and participation that people with disabilities face. iv. To measure the perceptions of the public towards the need for inclusion and participation for people with mental disabilities. The following approach will be used to conduct the proposed project. i. Review current knowledge about inclusion and participation for people with psychological disabilities in Australia. ii. Develop the questionnaire that will be used to collect data from a sample. iii. Collect data from the individuals who will be included in the sample. iv. Use the collected data to answer the specific questions of the survey. v. Review the findings with those in academic literature and existing policy documents. vi. Highlight specific policy areas that need to be addressed to ensure increased participation and inclusion for people with psychological disabilities in Australia. The outcomes of the anticipated project relate to the capacity building for mainstream services policy area of the ILC. Moreover, the outcomes of the study are connected to the specific measures of the policy area. For example, one of the two outcome statements of the policy area related to building the capacity of the community is to ensure that people with disabilities fully participate in mainstream social activities. It is recommended that progress be measured based on progress in the way the public understands barriers to inclusion, inclusive behaviour at the community level and the attitudes of people towards disabilities in general. The outcomes of the proposed project will address all these outcome measures. Moreover, the outcomes of the project reflect the second statement related to the ILC focus area of community awareness and capacity building. The outcomes will reflect the extent to which the public understands the barriers to inclusion and participation for people with psychological disability and the need for active involvement and more inclusive behaviour. The outcomes of the proposed project will be experienced at three levels: the individual level, the organisational level and the community level. At the individual level, people with psychological disabilities are expected to benefit from the prioritisation of the various policy areas related to their inclusion and participation in mainstream social activities. At the organisational and community levels level, the findings of the study will shape the actions of government agencies, CBOs and other stakeholder organisations involved in building the capacity of communities to help people with psychological disabilities to participate in mainstream social activities. References Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2015). Psychological disability. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4433.0.55.004?OpenDocument Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHWA). (2017). Mental health services in Australia: Prevalence, impact and burden. Retrieved from https://mhsa.aihw.gov.au/background/prevalance/ Commonwealth of Australia. (2011). National disability strategy: 2010-2020 – an initiative of the council of Australian governments. Retrieved from https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/05_2012/national_disability_strategy_2010_2020.pdf Department of Social Services, Australian Government. (2016). Shut out: The experience of people with disabilities and their families in Australia. Retrieved from https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/disability-and-carers/publications-articles/policy-research/shut-out-the-experience-of-people-with-disabilities-and-their-families-in-australia?HTML#2.7 Kuipers, P., & Sabuni, L. P. (2016). Community-based rehabilitation and disability-inclusive development: On a winding path to an uncertain destination. In S. Grech & K. Soldatic (Eds.), Disability in the global south: The critical handbook (pp. 453-468). Cham: Springer International Publishing AG. Leddy, S. K. (2003). Integrative health promotion: Conceptual bases for nursing practice. Thorofare, NJ SLACK Incorporated. Mind Frame. (2017). Facts and stats about mental illness in Australia. Retrieved from http://www.mindframe-media.info/for-mental-health-and-suicide-prevention/talking-to-media-about-mental-illness/facts-and-stats Novo-Corti, M. I. (2010). Attitudes toward disability and social inclusion: An exploratory analysis. European Research Studies, 13(3), 83-107. Retrieved from http://www.ersj.eu/repec/ers/papers/10_3_p4.pdf Suicide Prevention Australia. (2009). Mental illness and suicide: Position statement. Retrieved from https://www.suicidepreventionaust.org/sites/default/files/resources/2016/SPA-Mental-Illness-Position-Statement%5B1%5D.pdf Read More

In general, there is a need to build inclusive and accessible communities (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 4). However, so far, the focus of this approach has been on addressing the social needs of people with physical forms of disabilities at the expense of those with psychological forms of disabilities (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 4). For example, one of the major approaches that used by stakeholders is to ensure that all public buildings are based on the universal design which makes it easy for people with disabilities to access and make use of such public buildings (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 4). Moreover, increased participation in social, cultural and other community-based programmes is considered an important policy goal related to the need to build the capacity of communities to manage the issue of disability (Department of Social Services, Australian Government, 2016).

However, the focus so far has been on increasing the level of participation of people with physical disabilities in social and cultural events as one of the main pillars of the approach. Community capacity is one of the most important focus areas of the ILC. Essentially, two outcomes define what is meant by community capacity. The first one is that people with disabilities should fully participate in community activities that everyone else participates in and that the people should benefit from these activities (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 4). The second outcome relates to the need for people with disabilities to use and benefit from the services that everyone else uses (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 14). Hence, community capacity is defined in terms of inclusion and participation.

However, it is important to note that the process of adequately describing capacity building is challenging. For example, it is noted that capacity building can be carried out at multiple levels, including the individual and community levels (Leddy, 2003). Capacity building at the individual level entails enabling the individuals who are victims of social processes (in this case the people who with psychological disability) to overcome the barriers to inclusion and participation that they meet.

On the other hand, self-help capacity building entails allowing members of the community to identify their needs before one develops the right approaches to addressing the identified needs (Kuipers & Sabuni, 2016). From the foregoing, it is clear that there is a need to re-examine the following: the priority areas for inclusion and participation of people with psychological disabilities in the community. Therefore, the proposed project will address the problem by identifying areas that require detailed policy action to ensure that the national strategic objectives on disability are achieved in Australia.

The Response (Methodology for Implementation) The proposed project will address the problem identified in the previous section of this proposal because the findings of the survey will be used to provide a clear picture of what needs to be done to improve inclusion and participation initiatives for the target group. The proposed project will provide new insights in relation to the need to build the capacity of the community to help people with psychological disability to participate and be included in mainstream social activities.

The proposed project seeks to collect quantitative data from participants (community members in general) to evaluate key priority areas regarding the issue of inclusion and participation of people with psychological disability that need to be addressed. The project is to take the form of a national survey to collect the opinions of the public about key issues related to inclusion and participation for people with disabilities and what needs to be done as part of the process of building the capacity of the community in relation to this issue.

The proposed survey will be a one-off event. The process is expected to take between four and six weeks.

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