Health and social services offered to residents of socially excluded localities in České Budějovice

My diploma thesis focuses on finding out what health and social services are provided to the inhabitants of socially excluded localities in České Budějovice. Social exclusion is a process within which the access of individuals, groups of individuals or a community to sources, positions and opportunities enabling the involvement into social, economic and political activities society, is substantially impeded or completely prevented. The seriousness of the situation is illustrated by the fact that the year 2010 was declared the European European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. One of the possibilities to deal with this situation is to provide health and social services, such as field programmes, social counselling, low-threshold services for young people and crisis assistance. My thesis aims at finding out whether health and social services provided to the inhabitants of socially excluded localities in České Budějovice are available, sufficient, oriented in the right direction, and whether they are used. At the beginning of the theoretical part, I made a brief definition of the terms social exclusion and poverty. Further, I described the main problem spheres of socially excluded citizens to which health and social services should react, and I also added a description of the current situation in individual socially excluded localities selected and of the specification of health and social services that the thesis deals with. The end of the theoretical part contains a summary of the theoretical part and subjects for my own research. The objective of my thesis was to survey the availability and sufficiency of services, especially in the health and social services offered to the inhabitants of socially excluded localities in České Budějovice. The defined objective of my thesis was achieved. To achieve it I used in the practical part the qualitative research, questioning method, the semi-controlled interview technique and analysis of the available data. Research was carried out in two selected sets, one of which consisted of inhabitants of chosen socially excluded localities, and of providers of health and social services in České Budějovice. The data obtained may be used by providers of services to consider an extension of these services. Further, it may serve as an output for an expert article or a basis for further research realised in this field