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On: Oct. 21, 2009 Seeing the Possibilities: The Need for a Mental Health Focus Amongst Street-Involved Youth

Recognizing and Supporting Resilience

Principal Organization: Faculty of Community Services at Ryerson University

Author: Elizabeth McCay, RN, Ph.D

Investigators: Elizabeth McCay, RN, Ph.D; John Langley, MD, FRCP (c); Heather Beanlands, RN, Ph.D; Linda Cooper, RN, Ph.D; Karen Bach, BA, MPsych; Colin Dart, MPsych; Carol Howes, MSW; Susan Miner, Social Services (Dip); Patricia Robinson, RN, C.B.S. (Dip), M. Ed.

Participants: Youth aged 16-24 in Toronto who had been without a home or without a place of their own for at least one month

Research Methods: Questionnaires, interviews, self-reporting measures, focus groups, participatory action research (PAR)
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On: Aug. 7, 2009 Critical Characteristics of Supported Housing

Principal Organizations: University of Toronto
Partner Organizations: Toronto Branch ,Canadian Mental Health Association
Principal Investigator(s):Bonnie Kirsh PhD

Critical Characteristics of Supported Housing: Findings from the Literature, Residents, and Service Providers lays the foundation for the development of principles that can be used to guide Supported Housing programming and that can continue to be examined in future research. It also provides a set of key characteristics critical to supported housing that can be used by supported housing programs to modify and evaluate their current programs and in the development of new housing programs.

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On: Apr. 14, 2009 Research Bulletins from Street Health

Principal Organizations: Street Health
Principal Investigator(s): Laura Cowan

Street Health has released the fourth and final research bulletin in their latest series.  Download the entire series of research bulletins here.

Homelessness_DiverseExperiences_SharedSolutions_FINAL_LowRes.pdf

Homelessness_HepC_Bulletin1_FINAL_lowres.pdf

Women_Homelessness_Bulletin2_FINAL_lowres.pdf

Homelessness_CrackUse_Bulletin3_FINAL_lowres.pdf

MentalHealth&SubstanceUse_Homelessness_Bulletin4_FINAL_lowres.pdf

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On: Dec. 7, 2008 Disability in the context of HIV/AIDS: Building the Foundation for an Instrument to Describe “Disability” Experienced by Adults Living with HIV

Principal Organizations: St. Michael’s Hospital – Centre for Research on Inner City Health
Partner Organizations: Aids Committee of Toronto (ACT)
Principal Investigator(s): Kelly O’Brien

The purpose of this study is to determine what “disability” means to PHAs to guide the future development of an instrument (questionnaire) that describes “disability” in the context of HIV. Specific objectives are: 1) to determine how PHAs conceptualize “disability” and what domains of “disability” they experience; and 2) to evaluate how well existing HIV health status instruments capture “disability” experienced by this population. Results will form a conceptual framework consisting of a definition and profile of consequences of living with HIV. The approach to objective #2 will include a content analysis in which categories and properties associated with results from objective #1 will be compared to domains and items of existing instruments used in HIV research to determine how well they capture the experiences of PHAs. Additionally, existing questionnaires will be reviewed with PHAs in two focus groups to determine how well they resonate with their lived experiences.

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On: Jun. 7, 2008 Invisible Men FTMs and Homelessness in Toronto

Principal Organizations: The 519 Church Street Community Centre (Trans Shelter Access Project)
Partner Organizations: York University – Department of Political Science ,Turning Point Youth Services ,Ryerson University – School of Social Work ,Native Men’s Residence ,Fred Victor Centre ,Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter ,City of Toronto ,2-Spirited People of the First Nations
Principal Investigator(s): Kyle Scanlon

The Trans Programme at The 519 Community Centre has been offering training and policy development to the shelter system resulting in significant progress in safe shelter for trans women (male to female) since 2001. This project undertakes an innovative inquiry into the shelter needs of members of the homeless Female-to-Male (FTM) trans community in Toronto. Through interviews with homeless FTM’s and shelter staff, and partnerships with key stakeholders from relevant sectors, this innovative inquiry will focus a lens on the unique barriers that FTMs experience and engage key stakeholders in development of a cross-sector response to this considerable gap.

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On: May. 21, 2008 We Are Neighbours: The Impact of Supportive Housing on Community, Social, Economic and Attitude Changes

Supportive housing is a proven component of the range of services that can help people facing health challenges to continue to live in the community. But it has occasionally faced local opposition; We Are Neighbours: The Impact of Supportive Housing on Community, Social, Economic and Attitude Changes explores the relationship between supportive housing and the surrounding neighbourhood, Read the rest of this entry »

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On: Jan. 7, 2008 A study of local response to the food and nutrition needs of homeless people

Principal Organizations: University of Toronto – Department of Nutritional Sciences
Partner Organizations: Youthlink Inner City ,Weston-King Drop in Centre ,City of Toronto ,Sherbourne Health Centre ,Dixon Hall ,Fred Victor ,CRC ,Street Health Community Nursing Foundation ,Daily Bread Food Bank ,Second Harvest
Principal Investigator(s): Valerie Tarasuk, Steve Gaetz, Blake Poland

This project conducted a pilot study of community food provisioning efforts for homeless groups in Toronto in order to develop a conceptual framework for future evaluations of the effectiveness of local responses to the nutrition needs of homeless people. The research team conducted an inventory of programs in Toronto that regularly provide food to homeless people; surveyed active programs through 20-30 minute telephone interviews to assess their composition and connection to similar agencies; conduct key informant interviews with policy makers, program funders, and senior staff at the coordinating agencies that supply programs with donated foodstuffs; conduced an in-depth study of purposive sample of local food provisioning initiatives for homeless youth; ethnographic study with program directors of 3-5 operations; and finally nutritional assessments of the meals provided.

Download the report

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On: Sep. 7, 2007 The Street Health Report

Principal Organizations: Street Health Community Nursing Foundation
Partner Organizations: St. Michael’s Hospital – Centre for Research on Inner City Health
Principal Investigator(s): Laura Cowan

The Street Health Report 2007, launched in September 2007, presents the findings of a survey of 368 homeless adults in Toronto on their health and access to health care. This study was conducted in the winter of 2006/2007 by Street Health, a community-based health care organization working with homeless and under-housed people in downtown Toronto.

The report discusses the nature of homelessness in Toronto and its root causes, followed by an exploration of the daily living conditions of homeless people. It then presents findings on the physical and mental health status of homeless people, how they use health care services, and the barriers homeless people face when using these services. It also explains how the health status of homeless people has changed in the 15 years since the 1992 Street Health Report was published:

“The health of homeless people in Toronto has gotten worse in the past fifteen years. Many serious physical health conditions have become even more common among homeless people and their access to health care has deteriorated. The worsening health of homeless people and the growth of homelessness itself are a reflection of social policy decisions that have been made over the past 15 years. These decisions have resulted in inadequate social assistance rates, a severe lack of affordable housing and the loss of hundreds of emergency shelter beds.”

Based on the findings of the study, an action plan is presented, consisting of realistic solutions to immediately improve the health of homeless people and to ultimately end homelessness.

The study was funded by the Wellesley Institute, the United Way of Toronto, and the Metcalf Foundation.

Learn more about Street Health.

Find out about the Street Health Stories, the National Film Board’s Filmmaker’s in Residence project and the film and photo-installation that give a human face to the statistics in the Street Health Report.

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On: Feb. 7, 2007 Improving access to mental health services for immigrant and refugee persons with HIV/AIDS

Principal Organizations: Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment c/o – Asian Community AIDS Services
Partner Organizations: Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples ,Centre for Addiction and Mental Health ,Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention ,Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention ,African in Partnership Against AIDS
Principal Investigator(s): Alan Li

Mental health services constitute a critical component of the overall treatment and management of HIV and AIDS. Immigrants and refugees living with HIV/AIDS (I&R-PHAs) experience complex barriers in accessing mental health services that take in consideration of their HIV/AIDS conditions. This 2-year project represents two components of a larger community action research initiative which aims to improve access of mental health services for I&R-PHAs, and to facilitate intersectoral collaboration to achieve best practices and influence policy change. Based on the conceptual orientation of health promotion, community empowerment and capacity building, this study will use focus group interviews and an interpretive approach to explore how I&R-PHAs define their mental health needs, how they make sense of and cope with their mental health issues, and their experiences in accessing mental health services. Findings of this research will compliment the outcomes of other components of a larger initiative to inform the development and implementation of professional training for service providers and the piloting of a model of inclusive practices.

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On: Jul. 7, 2006 Failing the Homeless: barriers in the Ontario Disability Support Program for Homeless People with Disabilities

Principal Organizations: Street Health Community Nursing Foundation
Principal Investigator(s): Laura Cowan

The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) is intended to assist low-income people with disabilities, but many disabled homeless people are unable to access this program. In an effort to address this problem, Street Health decided to conduct a research project to identify the barriers that were preventing eligible homeless people from accessing the ODSP, while at the same time helping study participants to secure the benefits they are entitled to. In total, 85 homeless people living with disabilities participated in this study, and several interviews were conducted with each participant to learn about their personal histories of disability, employment, housing and attempts to access disability benefits. Project staff also assisted participants with new disability benefits applications and appeals, as well as other requirements for the benefits application process (e.g., accessing health care and identification documents). Findings from this innovative study can be viewed in the full report “Failing the Homeless: Barriers in the Ontario Disability Support Program for Homeless People with Disabilities”

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