Importance of Telephone Consultancy Service - Essay Example

Importance of Telephone Consultancy Service Provided by SOCIAL SUPPORT CENTER in Solving Social Problems in UAE Introduction Any form of comfort; physical or emotional, given to a person by others can be a social support. Man is a social animal and it is necessary for him to get the physical and emotional support from the society in which he interacts. This support may be from family, friends or the society. Social support can be extended to different types of problems (see appendix). Moreover it can be extended in different forms also like; instrumental (help in the form of money, time, in-kind assistance, and other explicit interventions on the person’s behalf), informational (advice, suggestions, or directives that assist the person to respond to personal or situational demands), emotional (empathy, concern, caring, love, and trust) and appraisal (transmission of information in the form of affirmation, feedback and social comparison) (Bilthoven) Advice through telephone is a common form of social support. Many people in our society need emotional support and that can be achieved using telephonic advices. For example, anxiety and depression are common problems in many people because of the increased commitments and such people can seek the support/advice from social workers in order to reduce/eliminate their stress. There are many people in our society who is facing physical and emotional problems which can be tackled up to certain extent through telephonic advices or support. UAE is a country which is facing so many social problems and the people are reluctant to reveal it publicly. When people approaches social support centres directly, their privacy cannot be guaranteed. Such people can seek the assistance of telephonic advices from social centres to solve their problems. This paper briefly explains the telephone consultancy services in UAE in solving social problems. Literature review: Advice through telephone in UAE UAE doctors have recently warned the public that more local women are taking up smoking shisha as part of a worrying new lifestyle trend within the UAE. Dr. Bassam Mahboub has explained that the exact number of women smokers is difficult to know becasue they are smoking at private places (AMEinfo.com). Solomon et al (1996), after a thorough research have found that social support through telephone calls using ex-smokers is effective in making positive changes in women smoking (Solomon et al, p.379). Women smokers are large in many countries and UAE is also not an exception. Unlike other countries, it is difficult to estimate the number of women smokers in UAE since most of them smoke privately because of their fear of tight social and cultural norms. These female smokers in UAE might have the willingness to stop their smoking habits. But they are reluctant to approach the social support centres publicly to because of their fear of losing privacy. Such smoking women in UAE can seek advice from social support centres to get rid of their smoking habits secretly without disclosing their identity. “Cancer is the third leading cause of death in the UAE after cardiovascular diseases and accidents (Tadmouri & Al-Sharhan, p.59). Scura et al (2004) has mentioned that 17 men diagnosed with prostate cancer of age in the range of 51-78 tested with telephone social support over a 12-month period by Scura KW, Budin W, Garfing E (Department of Nursing, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, USA) in 2004. They found that social support and education through telephone were effective in increasing adaptation to prostate cancer (Scura et al). Cancer is a serious disease in UAE and the UAE public may develop psychological problems like anxiety, depression etc once thy came to know about the severity of their diseases. Mental strength is essential for treating cancer like chronic diseases and telephone advices are part of palliative care adopted by many hospitals and healthcare institutions in UAE. Counselling through telephone by experienced counsellors from the UAE social support centres may strengthen the mental strengths of the cancer patients in UAE and the medicines might be more effective in patients with good mental strength. Sabbah report (2010) has reported that a 17-year-old boy and 19-year-old girl, both UAE nationals, were each sentenced to spend one month in jail. The teenagers were exchanging "indecent" pictures through their cellphones and sending pornographic pictures through email (Sabbah report). Many teens in UAE are confused about sexual and romantic life. They don’t have much knowledge about these two segments of human life and often fell in dangers. The traditional UAE society is not providing enough sex education to the teenagers. Teenage is a period during which the sexual hormones are more active. Teen community have lot of doubts about such lives and most of them are reluctant in seeking advices from the family with respect to these matters. They normally rely on peers to get advice, but these peers also may not have many ideas. In such cases, they can seek the help from experts of social support centres in UAE through telephone to clarify their doubts. The major advantage of seeking help through telephone is that they can keep their privacy and also their personal information intact. Telephone counselling can also help UAE teens to get advice to marriage problems, relationships etc. Abu Dhabi Social Support Centre is currently engage in telephonic support to settle domestic problems in an amicable manner, provides psychological and social support to victims of crime, supports weak members if the community through consultation and counseling using negotiation and persuasion (Colonel: Mohammed). Telephonic support can indirectly reduce criminal behavior. Many people are becoming criminals because of lack of advice and guidance. It is difficult to rectify a criminal once he became a criminal. On the other hand, social support like agencies can contribute heavily in the prevention of criminal activities through telephonic guidance. Conclusions Social support is necessary especially in the current world to get rid of the stresses because of increased commitments of people with respect to their family, social and workplace commitments. Social support can be extended both directly and indirectly. Telephonic guidance is an indirect form of social support. People suffering from physical and mental problems can seek the advice of experts from social support centres without disclosing their identity. Telephonic advice is used in palliative care, preventing sexual abuse, criminal activities and smoking like unhealthy behaviours. Works Cited 1. AMEinfo.com. 2009. “UAE Doctors Warn More Women Smoking Shisha”. 17 March 2010. 2. Bilthoven, Rivm.2009. “Social Support”. 17 March 2010. 3. Colonel : Mohammed Ahmed Al- Hossani. 2004. “Social Responsibility”. Social Support Centre. Abu Dhabi Police Force. 4. Sabbah Report. 2010. “Teens jailed in Dubai for indecent pics”. 17 March 2010. 5. Scura KW, Budin W, & Garfing E. 2004. “Telephone Social Support and Education for Adaptation to Prostate Cancer: A Pilot Study”. 17 March 2010. 6. Solomon, Laura J, Secker-Walker Roger H, Flynn Brian S, Christ Sally, Dana Greg S, and Dorwaldt Anne L. 1996. “Proactive Peer Support by Telephone to Help Women Quit Smoking”. 17 March 2010. Oxford University Press. 7. Tadmouri Ghazi Omar & Al-Sharhan Mouza. “Cancers in the United Arab Emirates”. Genetic Disorders in the Arab World: United Arab Emirates. 17 March 2010. Appendix Cases handled by the Abu Dhabi Social Support Centre between 25/02/2004 and 31/1 Percentage Number Type of Case Number 25.7 395 Domestic Disputes 1 19.5 300 Conjugal Differences 2 14.6 225 Advice through the telephone 3 8.3 128 Missing Persons 4 7.2 111 Domestic Violence 5 5.8 89 Teenage Problems 6 4.4 68 Financial Problems 7 2.8 44 Suicide Attempts 8 2.2 34 Severe Accident Victims 9 3.1 48 Violation of Rules of Conduct 10 0.9 14 Cases Received from Schools 11 1.0 16 Addiction Problems 12 0.8 12 Visiting the Custodial Parent 13 0.7 11 Psychological Problems 14 0.6 9 Beggary 15 0.4 7 Neighbor Disputes 16 0.7 11 Personal Problems 17 100 1535 Total (Colonel : Mohammed) Read More