Abstract
Summary: The need to align health and social care systems to meet the complex needs of the homeless population has perhaps never been stronger due to the increasing number of homeless individuals. CANCERLESS plans to overcome health inequalities, through the piloting of the Health Navigator Model (HNM) to provide person-centred care, including health promotion, counselling, and support in navigating the healthcare system. The HNM will be in Austria, Greece, Spain and the United Kingdom. By focusing on the transferability, this workshop will aim at maximising the impact of the HNM to be scaled-up to real-life settings.
Background: Cancer is the second most common cause of death among homeless population [1] with cancer-mortality being twice as high compared to the general adult population in high-income countries [2]. The Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan focuses on prevention and early diagnosis of cancer, highlighting the importance of reducing health inequalities.
Aims and Objectives: The aim is to demonstrate the potential for transferability of the HNM. In order to accelerate the scaling-up of the model, its characteristics, the health needs of the homeless, and the characteristics of the health and social care systems will be presented. The workshop aims to raise awareness about the needs of the homeless and the need for a change towards more coordinated care systems for cancer prevention; and contributes to understanding local readiness and needs for the adoption and scaling-up of the HNM.
Target audience: The workshop will be of interest to a variety of professionals including stakeholders form the social and health sectors, researchers, public authorities, third sector organisations and others who plan to adopt similar strategies in their settings.
Facilitators / speakers:
-Igor Grabovac (IG) – Project Coordinator – Moderator
-Alejandro Gil-Salmerón (AGS) – Researcher – Moderator
-Pania Karnaki – Researcher – Greek Pilot Representative
-Ascensión Doñate-Martinez – Researcher – Spanish Pilot Representative
-Christina Carmichael (CC) – Researcher – British Pilot Representative
-Tobias Schiffler – Researcher – Austrian Pilot Representative
Format:
-CANCERLESS project overview by IG (5 min)
-HNM presentation by CC (10 min)
-Pilot Plans by pilot representatives (35 min)
-Group exercise to assess health and social care systems to map the needs for capacity building and plan a strategy for the adoption of the HNM in their context, moderated by AGS (20 min)
-Presentation of the need for capacity building and plan a strategy for the adoption of the model, moderated by AGS (15 min)
-Conclusions and final statements by IG (5 min)
7 - Key Learnings/Take away: Learn about CANCERLESS project. Raise awareness on the need for a change towards more coordinated care systems to reach homeless population. Gain knowledge on how the HNM is adopted and contribute to the scaling up of the model.
[1] Aldridge RW, Menezes D, Lewer D et al. Causes of death among homeless people: a population-based cross-sectional study of linked hospitalisation and mortality data in England. Wellcome Open Res 2019, 4:49.
[2] Asgary R. Cancer Screening in the Homeless Population. The Lancet Oncology. 2018;19(7):e344-50.