Lisbon employment and equal opportunities for all Strategy ... social impact assessments prior to implementing policies in ... Role of media in social integration â.
Do social policies achieve social integration? Dr. Arūnas Germanavičius Assoc. Prof. Clinic of Psychiatry Faculty of Medicine Vilnius university (Lithuania)
EU and other international policies and standarts aiming for better social integration
Social Action Programme in 1998-2000
Lisbon employment and equal opportunities for all Strategy (2000-2010)
The EU Action Plan 2004 - 2010
The EU 2020 Strategy
PROGRES Programme 2007-2013 to reduce poverty and exclusion
The European Disability Strategy 2010-2020
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
...but some policies did not reach targets Social Justice Ireland report (2012) „Ireland and the Europe 2020 Strategy - Unemployment, Education and Poverty“ reviews the social inclusion aspects of Ireland's National Reform Programme and the Europe 2020 Strategy and how these have been implemented to date in Ireland. It expresses major concern at the failure of policy-makers to understand that more is required to protect the vulnerable than promises that jobs will be available when the economy recovers.
Social Justice Ireland report (2012) „Ireland and the Europe 2020 Strategy - Unemployment, Education and Poverty“ (1) The study welcomes recent developments in relation to government policy on jobs but argues that these are not likely to have a major impact because of their lack of scale. This review of Ireland's contribution to the Europe 2020 Strategy raises serious questions concerning a range of decisions made by the Government in their recent budget, many of which will impact negatively upon the most vulnerable in Irish society, increasing the level of exclusion already experienced by those households. The report also concludes that Government should set targets aimed at reducing poverty among particular vulnerable groups such as children, lone parents, jobless households and those in social rented housing.
Social Justice Ireland report (2012) „Ireland and the Europe 2020 Strategy - Unemployment, Education and Poverty“ (2) On poverty and social exclusion the study recommends that the Irish Government should carry out in-depth social impact assessments prior to implementing policies in order to ensure that the position of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion is not worsened by the austerity measures being pursued. It also recommends that Government should set targets aimed at reducing poverty among particular vulnerable groups such as children, lone parents, jobless households and those in social rented housing.
Households’ health expenditures (calculated as percentage of households’ total expenditure) by households’ income class: Greece, 2009. (Kondilis et al., 2013)
Low-income households during the crisis spent an even larger share of their reduced income to access health services such as pharmaceuticals and hospital services.
Picture: Riots at Clichy-sous-Bois in the Paris suburbs following the deaths of two young men, running from police control, and electrocuted whilst hiding in an electric power unit. Courtesy of Karl Laske, Tim Greacen (Paris)
Active inclusion of young people with disabilities or health problems (Eurofound, 2012)
Data collection and reporting need to be significantly improved. The role of mental health problems as a factor in the social exclusion of the target group needs to be addressed more effectively. There is a need to develop new policy tools to reach the target group. Service delivery systems need to be much better integrated to deliver active inclusion. Joint action is needed between the major governmental and other stakeholders for active inclusion to be successful.
‘Housing First’ Program
Providing meaningful support to homeless people experiencing mental health problems
From 'treatment first’ to ‘housing first’
Pioneer program in New York: Dr Sam Tsemberis 1990-1991
Canada: national ‘At Home/Chez-soi’ program in 2008
Significant results: Reduction of emergency room use, average duration of hospitalization and incarceration 70 to 80% of people still in their homes after 4 years High cost-efficiency ratio
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The Housing First Program in France: « Un Chez-Soi d’abord » A randomized, controlled trial 800 homeless adults randomised to either treatment or control groups 4 cities: Lille, Marseille, Toulouse, Paris first inclusion in 2011 a multidisciplinary research team. quantitative evaluation every 6 months over 2 years ongoing qualitative evaluation Population homeless people with severe mental illness (schizophrenia or bipolar disorder) who accept to participate in the program and give informed consent
Innovative program: alternative to transitional housing system, providing housing regardless of healthcare treatment
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Role of media in social integration – example of the internet The vast, volunteer-written encyclopedia Wikipedia, the largely amateur-produced YouTube video service, the massive Flickr photo repository, the sprawling Huffington Post blog compendium—all of these popular media services were unimaginable before the Web came along. The interactivity of the medium has also turned it into the world’s meetinghouse, where people gather to chat, gossip, argue, show off, and flirt on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and all sorts of other social (and sometimes antisocial) networks. (from "The Shallows"by Nicholas Carr, W.W.Norton&Co., NY, -2010. )
And role of social media - is further to be analyzed...
From February 2013: implementing EPIC (1)
The Recommendation provides guidance for European Union (EU) Member States on how to tackle child poverty and social exclusion through measures such as family support and benefits, quality childcare and earlychildhood education.
From February 2013: implementing EPIC (2)
EPIC is geared towards knowledge exchange on a variety of policies, programmes and practices among stakeholders and a wider audience of practitioners, academics and policymakers. EPIC is one of the European Commission’s initiatives to encourage social innovation, and it welcomes engagement with relevant stakeholders through cooperation, dissemination, enabling dialogue between organisations. It is an open platform: innovative child-related practices can be submitted on the website via an online form, and stakeholders and users can send an email for further information.
Conclusions 1.Mental health is important for learning, working, social development and the social cohesion of societies. 2.Some social policies could not reach targets because of lacking resilience enhancement methods both on individual and societal levels. 3.Social policies aiming for social integration should include mental health components. 4.New methods and policies for better social integration of vulnerable groups should be researched for.
