Since the 1990s, homelessness has increased in Canada. The existing strategies of the government and public health service providers to manage the situation have had limited success. Researchers have noted the lack of including those experiencing homelessness to better understand and find a solution to homelessness. The purpose of this phenomenological study, driven by the social cognitive theory, was to understand homelessness from the perspectives of people who do not have homes. Data were collected from open-ended interviews with a purposeful sample of 15 individuals who are homeless. Summarizing and analyzing the interviews, several themes emerged after interview data were transcribed via hand coding and analyzed using cognitive data analysis. The prominent themes were: lack namely, money, home, privacy, and support; discrimination of all kinds; mental illness and addiction; the need for a review of housing policy that specifically addresses rent, mortgage qualification criteria and house tax, and to create awareness of government support systems and the services that they provide. Public health service providers and designated authorities can use the findings of this study to understand the phenomenon from the perspective of people who are experiencing homelessness, and in turn can use that understanding to influence improved homelessness reduction strategies that could improve the lives of those experiencing homelessness and their communities. Since homelessness is a public health issue, effectively bringing it under control could create a positive impact on the health and safety of the public.

INTRODUCTION: Street medicine programs utilize a nontraditional healthcare model to provide care to populations experiencing homelessness. Through street medicine programs, clinicians take to the streets to offer services to individuals who are living unsheltered. Many street medicine programs offer health professional students the opportunity to volunteer and provide care to this vulnerable population. AIM: This exploratory study aimed to answer the following question: what influence does volunteering with a street medicine program have on the career trajectories of student volunteers who ultimately choose to work with medically underserved populations (MUPs)? METHODS: This study used an exploratory mixed methods approach to answering the research question. The core ideas that emerged from the qualitative data collected from street medicine student volunteers were used to inform the development of a web-based survey administered to a broader, national sample of street medicine student volunteers. The survey included closed- and opened- ended questions, as well as demographic questions. The Health Professionals’ Attitude Towards the Homeless Inventory (HPATHI; Buck et al., 2005) questionnaire was embedded into the survey to measure students’ attitudes towards the population experiencing homelessness before and after volunteering with a street medicine program. RESULTS: The results suggested that 15 (65.22%) of the 23 participants who completed the web-based survey reported that volunteering with a street medicine program influenced their decision to ultimately work with MUPs. Of the 19 participants who provided qualitative feedback, 7 (36.84%) mentioned that their decision to work with MUPs was influenced by their increased exposure and awareness to the barriers and needs of MUPs while volunteering with a street medicine program. Additionally, 6 (31.58%) participants mentioned that their previous decision to work with MUPs was reinforced while volunteering with a street medicine program. CONCLUSION: Volunteering with a street medicine program appears to help motivate students to work with MUPs. Incorporating opportunities to volunteer with a street medicine program into current health professional school curriculum has the potential to impact a greater network of students, as well as influence decisions regarding the students’ careers.

The population of people experiencing homelessness has decreased less than 15% in the last ten years, but issues like mental illness and substance use are rising. There are many misconceptions about race, gender, location and age of people experiencing homelessness. Music therapy research about the homeless population is minimal and often focused on just one setting or treatment location. The purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between music therapists and people experiencing homelessness. A survey of 365 music therapists in the United States revealed just under half of working clinicians provide services to people experiencing homelessness. Results from the survey revealed the most common settings where music therapists provided service to people experiencing homelessness were mental health, medical, and school systems. Additionally, the results discussed people experiencing homelessness’ demographic differences in clinician’s experiences versus annual reports. Results are not to be generalized but to be used as a tool to better understand people experiencing homelessness.

[pt] Os estudos da prática de assistência social têm tido como foco a ação dos profissionais da área de Serviço Social. No entanto, especialmente a partir da segunda metade dos anos 70, com a entrada do terceiro setor, a luta para diminuir as desigualdades sociais abriu espaço para o trabalho voluntário do/a cidadão/ã no atendimento àqueles que vivem em condições de vulnerabilidade social. No intuito de preencher essa lacuna, este estudo tem por objetivo contribuir para o entendimento das práticas de ofertas de ajuda, realizadas por voluntários. Para tanto, são analisadas, à luz do aparato teórico-metodológico da Análise da Conversa (Sacks, 1992; Sacks; Schegloff; Jefferson, 1974), as interações entre voluntários/as da Equipe de Abordagem Social da Turma da Sopa de Niterói, que tem como objetivo institucional tentar contribuir para o processo de reinserção/reintegração social de pessoas em situação de rua ou vulnerabilidade social, atendidas por eles/elas. Os resultados revelam a organização estrutural global das interações que constituem a abordagem social, identificando as etapas desse trabalho (início da abordagem, escuta e/ou sondagem, condução propositiva e fechamento), bem como as (micro) ações que ocorrem em cada fase. A pesquisa aponta também para a centralidade das ofertas nas conduções propositivas, diferenciando as ofertas delicadas, que apresentam formato despreferido, das não-deliciadas, realizadas em formato preferido. Com base nas análises, é possível identificar que práticas se mostraram mais ou menos eficazes para o atingimento dos objetivos institucionais. / [en] The study of professional practice in the field of social work focuses on the action of those trained in social services. However, particularly from the second half of the 1970s, along side the emergence of the third sector, the struggle for social care provision has opened up the possibility for citizens to engage in community service projects by supporting those who are socially vulnerable. Intending to fulfill this gap, this study focus is contributing to improving the comprehension of social reintegration practices performed by volunteers. In order to do so, the interaction between volunteers from the Social Approach Group of the Soup Group of Niterói and people experiencing homelessness was analyzed through the theoretical-methodological approach of Conversation Analysis. The results reveal the overall structural organization of the interaction, identifying the steps of this work (beginning of the approach, probing, propositional conduction, and closure) as well as the (micro) actions that occur in each step. The research also points to the centralization of the offers in propositional conductions, separating the delicate offers, which present unpreferred format, from the non-delicate ones, which are performed in a preferred format. Based on the analysis, it is possible to identify some practices that are more or less effective to achieve the interactional goals.