Youth Homelessness: The Relationship Among Mental Health, Hope and Service Satisfaction

In todays world there are so many people not privileged to have all the basic needs for ones survival. These groups range from the elderly, young children as well as the youths who have to scrap of what is left from the well abled population in order to survive. I have come across youths living on the streets with no place to call home or family, the situation at hand was so dire in that some of these young adults had to persevere the harsh cold nights in order to face a new day. This article brings forth one of the most important aspects with regard to homeless adolescent youths. I personally understand the changes that one goes through during development with regard to adolescence, it is a crucial part in a persons life and needs a lot of stability in terms of availability of amenities such as a home.

The margins of homelessness among youths seem to be increasing with reasons for the epidemic coming from diverse sources. I believe that young adults are often confronted with an array of unrealistic challenges that result in finding themselves on the streets, coupled with test of individuality. When homeless and young, there is bound to be times when instead of thinking as a youth, it is expected of one to make realistic adult decisions. These challenges are so diverse in nature. Hughes, Clark, Wood, Cakmak..et al. (2010) in their research, found out that the youths affected by homelessness are diverse in nature just like the rest of the population found in Canada. I realized that much of the homeless youth population, still take part in living conditions that are hazardous as well as deal with disadvantages coupled with alienation of the homeless.

On realization of the array of challenges faced by the youths because of homelessness, there was need for me to further research more on the matter at hand in order to get a better understanding. Following the fore mentioned reason, l read a study done with the aspect of finding out more about the mental health of this vulnerable population. The study brought forth the results of approximately sixty homeless youths under the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

According to my understanding, the main purpose of the study was to bring to light the issues related to the mental health of the youths and adolescents dealing with homelessness, as well as those living in provisional shelters for the youth in the time span of two consecutive months. From a personal observation, most of the youths faced with homelessness do not get the most basic needs satisfied, such as food, shelter and clothing, as well as medication for those with health conditions that need more attention. For one to be able to fully comprehend the situation on the ground in terms of homelessness in reference to the mental health there is need to go on the ground and research from the population.

My understanding from the mental health assessment of adolescents found to be homeless, was to have a better understanding of how mental health affects the hopes and vision of this population. Without proper care and guidance the youth tend to deviate from their paths, as a youth, l would in many occasions be wayward in terms of how l viewed life when faced with some life stressing situations. This would apply in this particular situation as youths without a permanent shelter, would turn out to be a little mentally unstable and seem not to have any direction in life in respect to hopes, aspirations and vision.

In the study the use of questionnaires and in depth interviews were used to enable the researchers gather enough information with regard to the youths. In my understanding these methods were best for the research as it brought forth the aspect of better understanding of the youths and the issues they get to face every day. The questionnaires administered were to bring to light each individuals understanding of self with regard to, youth self-report and adult self-report as titled on the fill-in documents by the youths. The article highlighted all the important aspects that appertain the issue of homelessness among the youths, and the repercussions that may unfold following the issue going unchecked. I believe the article focusing on the youths and adolescents living in shelters, enables us to understand better the aspects that come with homelessness not just for the youths but also adults.

Elevated levels of mental health enabled me get to understand other aspects such as service satisfaction and the role they play in homeless youths in Canada. Important facts are highlighted with the issue of youths not seeking help during their stay in the shelters even for the short periods they tend to seek those shelters. To my understanding, the homeless do not want to be secluded or alienated from the society they seek out to interact with their families as well as the larger community. With regard to the questions asked or answered during the interviews, nothing is brought to light, making me question what particular issues were asked and answered by those who par took in the survey.

The main issue and of essence to every person in society is the acceptance and willingness to face the crisis at hand in terms of homelessness especially among the youths and adolescents. The array of facets brought forth in the article gives us a starting point in terms of what motivates these vulnerable groups to go on with life.

References

Hughes, J. R., Clark, S. E., William, W., Cakmak, S., Cox, A., Macinnins, M., Warren, B., Handraham, E., Broom, B. (2010). Youth Homelessness: The relationship among mental health, hope and service satisfaction. Journal Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology 19 (4): 274-283

Frankfort-Nachmias, C. & Leon-Guerrero, A. (Eds.). (2015). Social Statistical for a diverse society. Sage Publications, IncMagnusson, K. welcome blog about R. statistics, psychology, open science, data visualization (blog). Retrieved from http://psychologist.com/index.html