Making Every Community Asset Count: Improving Health and Reducing Inequalities for People Experiencing Homelessness

除了露宿街头，无家可归的人还可能住在收容所、招待所和临时或不合适的住所。在无家可归之前，人们往往面临持续的严重困难，这既是健康和福祉不佳的原因，也是其结果。人们无家可归的时间越长或越频繁，他们的健康状况就越差，让他们的生活回到正轨就越难，成本也越高。为了解决无家可归问题，人们需要平等地获得住房，医疗保健，教育，就业以及成长，发展技能的机会，过上健康和充实的生活。许多卫生和社会保健提供者、公共服务机构和社区组织都致力于改善健康和减少健康不平等。然而，尽管他们做出了努力，无家可归者往往发现自己无法获得和参与可能能够帮助他们的服务。服务往往侧重于解决住房、心理健康和成瘾等方面的危机，但往往带有完全清醒或心理健康稳定等标准，这些标准很难达到。除此之外，服务往往不如防止进一步的问题。对无家可归者的支助即使有，也往往只是短期的，不与其他服务协调，不能满足一个人的所有需要。虽然大多数服务机构认为无家可归者有很多需求，但很少有人认为他们有力量、天赋、韧性和抱负。创造性的健康方法（艺术、手工艺、烹饪、园艺、体育、唱歌、阅读、写作等）认识到人们是复杂和多方面的，有精神、情感、心理和身体需求。然而，尽管有证据表明创造性举措的积极影响，但这些资产通常不被视为支持服务的核心部分。该项目旨在发展护理系统，因此它包括创造性的健康方法，并学会更好地支持人们。它将由有无家可归经历的人领导，并采用参与性方法，将分为五个工作包（WP）：了解创伤对人们经历的影响，他们的无家可归，以及他们如何获得支持（WP 1）; 2。理解什么是创造性的方法，如何工作，为谁工作（WP 2）;3。发展护理服务网络，纳入创造性的保健办法，并鼓励他们和无家可归者相互学习（工作方案3）;4.使用创造性的方法来挑战围绕无家可归的耻辱感（工作方案4）;5.在东北北坎布里亚郡的决策者合作，以确保服务共同努力，以防止和解决无家可归（WP 5）。除了在学术论文和会议上分享的结果，我们将塑造政策，实践和研究。我们将使用创造性的方法来放大那些经历无家可归者的声音，并庆祝个人和社区资产的优势。我们将在国内和国际上分享我们的发现，以产生最大的影响。

As well as sleeping rough, people who are homeless may live in shelters, hostels, and temporary or unsuitable accommodation. Before becoming homeless, people have often faced sustained periods of severe difficulties, which are both a cause and a result of poor health and wellbeing. The longer or more often people are homeless the worse their health becomes and the harder, and more costly, it is to get their life back on track.To tackle homelessness, people need equal access to housing, healthcare, education, employment, and opportunities to grow, develop skills, and live healthy and fulfilling lives. Many health and social care providers, public services, and community-based organisations are committed to improving health and reducing health inequalities. Yet despite their efforts homeless people often find themselves unable to access and engage with the services that might be able to help them. Services tend focus on solving crises in housing, mental health, and addiction for example but often come with criteria such as complete sobriety or stability in mental health, which are difficult to meet. In addition to this, services are often not as good as preventing further issues. When available, support for homeless people is often only for a short time, not coordinated with other services and fails to meet all of a person's needs. While most services see people who are homeless as having lots of needs, few also see them as people with strengths, talents, resilience, and aspirations.Creative health approaches (art, crafting, cooking, gardening, sports, singing, reading, writing, and more) recognise people as complex and multifaceted, with spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical needs. However, despite evidence showing the positive impact of creative initiatives, these assets have not typically been considered a core part of support services.This project aims to grow the care system, so it includes creative health approaches and learns to support people better. It will be led by people with experience of homelessness, and using participatory methods, will be organised in five work packages (WP) to:Understand the impact of trauma on people's experiences, their homelessness, and how they have been enabled to access support (WP1); 2. Understand what creative approaches work, how and for whom (WP2);3. Develop a network of care services, to include creative health approaches, and encourage them and people who have been homeless, to learn from each other (WP3);4. Use creative approaches to challenge stigma around homelessness (WP4);5. Work with decision makers in the North East North Cumbria to ensure that services work together to prevent and tackle homelessness (WP5).In addition to sharing the findings in academic papers and conferences, we will shape policy, practice and research. We will use creative methods to amplify the voices of those experiencing homelessness and celebrate the strengths of individual and community assets. We will share our findings nationally and internationally for maximal impact.