Public health approach to deal with domestic violence and social isolation.Community nursing is in the field of community health and deals with the well being and the standard of health practices of prevention of diseases, mind on the safety issues of the community.
community nursing case study
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Community nursing
Introduction
Community nursing is in the field of community health and deals with the well being and the standard of health practices of prevention of diseases, mind on the safety issues of the community. It helps to deal with abuse both socially, poor dieting and also issues of social isolation. Domestic violence as in the case of Sarah is common and can affect people of different background resulting to transience and morbidity and could range from emotional to sexual violence as according to the Australian Public Health Association (1990). It has been seen to be the cause of a lack of self confidence and independence for Sarah though she does not have a job she can not figure out what to do about her abusive husband. It entails the abuse and mean treatment done on all members of a family but common among women (Robbe, March and Vinen, 1996). It may also involve physical abuse, verbal, social and economic abuse. Sarah is verbally abused when she is called a terrible wife and mother, socially abused since she does not openly socialize with people of her community whom she hardly knows, she is economically abused since she is only given money on demanding for it in public and her husband Paul does all the shopping. Social isolation on the other hand entails the stigma and stereotyping of people by the society or within a family set up encouraging people to develop inferiority complex, such withdrawal which is normally associated with psychotic issues and is a way of dealing with stress and pressures from an individual within the family or community set up. This is seen when Sarah says she has nowhere to go and her parents are in the interstate since her husband never allows her to socialize with other community members and does not appreciate what she does regarding her as an abysmal mother and wife. This has been the cause of no network and no communication of Sarah with her family and friends who are meant to support her.
Public health approach to deal with domestic violence and social isolation
For issues concerning domestic violence to be addressed then we must first accept that it is dire since it is on the rise. A survey according to (Hegarty, 1999) show that cases reported in hospital of partner kind of domestic abuse rates 8-28 percent annually but prevalently incidences of domestic and sexual abuse are much conspicuous. This number shot up from 4.7 to 7% from 1996 to 2005. About 20,000 women are also shown to seek fro shelter as refugees on being abused under protection orders thus this is a critical problem that requires to be addressed urgently (Addriaansen and Jacob, 2001). In practice domestic violence manifests itself as a denial, emotional bond and commitment to marriage and a disbelief of the situation one is in, with the hope that it is going to change with time. This is why most of the cases of domestic violence reported are only done so when they become wanting.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2006) interventions in reducing this problem can be done through the chain break of the intergeneration cycle of violence as a show of authority, the victim and other public health officers can work together to ensure such trends that are retrogressive and immature are abolished. This would help Paul to change the way he treats Sarah and help increase social connectedness of his wife avoiding her social alienation. Further it will help Adam their four year old son to grow in an environment that is favorable in Gold coast, further his father will be a good role model as a teacher in the local school. According to VicHealth (2007) several behavioral attitudes and structures of the society must be change so that domestic violence can be dealt with prevented even before occurring. The root cause of this abuse from Sarahs husband should be sorted on whether it is due to pressure from his other family then a lasting solution should be deducted by all the stakeholders involved. On occurrence of such a case of abuse Sarah should go and talk to someone such as she is doing to the therapists since a problem shared is a problem halved. Withdrawal from her husband to give him time to meditate on what he has done is crucial for cognition of ones self. Sarah should also join one of the organization such as the Australian Domestic and relations aggression Clearinghouse and lobby groups that fight for human rights affiliated with organization such as WHO that fight against this menace.
This family is also seen to have isolated itself from the community particularly since they just moved to this place. Sarah does not indicate of having a friend who she can share with her problems in the society she is living in. She also very bitter and once asked if she has a problem she just starts sobbing, also her sharing of her secrets with a doctor shows how much lonely she is since she has no reach out to her parents and the only person she can talk to is her consultant. His husband too has alienated himself from the society since he has a daughter whom he does not even bother visiting from a previous marriage which had failed. He is also seen to be highly temperament abusing his wife on finding the supper not ready and seems to criticize her efforts calling her a lousy mother and wife. The two individuals from these manifestations are isolated from their society and personality and have certain social fears (Australian Journal on Social Issues, 2010). Further there is a lack of social support and social relationship of the two which are main manifestations of solitude as according to Graeme (2008). This is attributed to be the cause of her abusive husband and her frequent sobbing due to stress.
This issue of social isolation has been addressed by ensuring it does not even happen, reintegrating isolates and the provision of basic rights has been done but all these require ones personal effort to be fully implemented. The two can try to integrate themselves since the issue of the social inclusion is important particularly if they get bigger problems in the future the surrounding community can help. Sarah can try to talk to her immediate neighbors, be a volunteer in organizations around Gold Coast as this would primarily give her a chance to share her problems with other people and feel of use in the community. Her husband as a teacher would assist children of her neighbors by offering them tuition and helping the community in case of difficulties as this would help them nurture their son to grow without any social phobias. Social isolation by indigenous people on new immigrants must be stopped in Australia since it has been attributed to be a main cause of poverty and domestic violence as by Hunter and Jordan (2008). Such problems once they occur as in this case should be reported to the Referral Centre in Victoria, Australia that specifically deals with similar cases. On immediate occurrence of such a case the victim should be reassured that things are going to get better, document proof by taking photos and seek for immediate health and legal care if necessary.
