Abstract
Introduction/background summary
Older adults entering homelessness, many for the first time is an emerging phenomenon. They are among the fastest growing group of long-term shelter users and are aging with homelessness. Homeless older adults experience complex health issues, and barriers to accessing and utilizing healthcare and social services, including the disconnect between their needs and offered services.
Why did you do it? (Problem and Context. Limit to one sentence)
Advancing knowledge and designing public policy and services to address healthcare, social service and housing needs for older adults aging with homelessness requires understanding their lived experiences.
Who is it for? ( Explain what community of people you are targeting)
The research is for healthcare and social service decision-makers, practitioners and policymakers, researchers interested in issues of homelessness, and populations that are homeless.
Who did you involve and engage with?
Collaboration with employees, service users and the participants occurred during participant sampling, eligibility screening, data collection and data analysis. Employees provided insights into participants’ recruitment and retention. Service users piloted the semi-structured interview guide through a focus group. Study participants offered feedback on their transcribed interview notes. Conversations have begun with the study settings to co-produce actionable policy, and practice tools informed by the research results.
What did you do? Explain the initiative or intervention
The phenomenological research explored the aging experience of eighteen adults over the age of fifty who were chronically homeless. Participants were purposely selected from five community settings serving populations experiencing homelessness through an eligibility screening, conducted with the eligibility screening survey and the Mini-Mental State Exam. Qualitative data were gathered through face-to-face interviews and unstructured observations in the study settings. Quantitative descriptive statistics were collected using a Participant Demographic Survey and the SF-12 Short Form Health Assessment Survey. Moustakas 1994 Phenomenological Framework and the NVivo 12 software guided the qualitative data analysis. The descriptive statistics analysis was completed using the SPSS statistical software.
What results did you get? What impact did you have?
Six major themes and twenty-one subthemes emerged from the data. Major themes highlighted the following: The suddenness of housing loss and personal belongings created grief and trauma. Physiological and psychological changes experienced included chronic pain and diabetes. Aging describes life, such as the struggle between doing nothing and staying active. COVID-19 changed everything resulting from heightened vulnerability, fear of contracting the virus and self-isolation. Pros and cons of utilizing healthcare and social services ranged from effective service coordination to long wait times. Participants' recommendations to improve healthcare, housing and social services included providing adequately trained, professional support staff, prioritizing housing access for older adults, and reducing automated services.
What is the learning for the international audience?
The findings will be of interest or transferable to international audiences engaged in practice, policy, advocacy and research related to homelessness.
What are the next steps?
Knowledge dissemination through presentations at conferences, symposiums, and publications. Collaborate with the study settings to translate the research findings into concrete policy, program design and service delivery methods.