Submitted by administrator on
Going to see your doctor, optician or a visit to the hospital can sometimes be an experience you'd want to forget if you are visiting due to ill health, however it is commonly considered an everyday situation and one that doesn't necessarily seem out of the ordinary or daunting. Of course, there are many who fear the dentist, yet this phobia is more likely attributed to horror stories told by your friends as children or Hollywood over-exaggerations, than anything else. However, for those less fortunate, a trip to any medical establishment could become an experience to shy away from, even though it might mean having to continue to contend with ailments which might ordinarily be curable or treated.
The Homeless Health Peer Advocacy or HHPA is an organisation born from the Westminster Primary Care Trust and Groundswell UK which aims to help the homeless amongst us to get the correct treatment that they are entitled to where and when they need it. Unfortunately, many avoid a trip to their local optician simply due to fears over how the rest of the general public may react to their presence and in particular hygiene issues, with many homeless people feeling inadequate or looked down upon when simply waiting in line to be seen. Generally, the homeless, according to statistics, rely upon the help that Accident and Emergency services offer, in many cases at a stage too late to help. This reliance also in turn causes an extra burden upon an already overloaded system. It is the 'willingness' of those without homes that the HHPA is looking to improve upon so that they can feel comfortable in surgeries and opticians etc as well as the thought of physically visiting them.
It is certainly not uncommon for many to simply consider the homeless suffering from liver related conditions due to alcohol or substance abuse, with others considering the cold as a cause for illnesses such as pneumonia and the like. However, it is important to realise that the everyday issues that the more fortunate may suffer from are also issues that those less than fortunate may also have to deal with such as deafness and blindness. In many instances, such visual conditions may indeed by treatable or curable but the aversion to go to an optician can have serious consequences. While the HHPA looks to build a bridge of trust with such people so that they feel like they are entitled to use such facilities without fear of prejudice, it is also important that the public are also aware of such issues in society in a bid to help encourage more homeless people to get themselves medically checked whenever necessary.