Primary Submission Category: Health equity
“My castle, I call it because it’s all mine right now”: Preliminary results from a community-engaged qualitative study of housing needs and pathways to housing among older homeless adults
Authors: Ashley Truong, Maria Javier, Robin Freeman, Cynthia English, Kelly Doran, Giselle Routhier,
Presenting Author: Ashley Truong*
The United States is experiencing an emerging crisis of aging homeless adults. While studies have examined the unique health and housing needs of older adults experiencing homelessness, few have leveraged community-engaged approaches to explore their pathways from shelter to housing and identify rehousing solutions responsive to their specific needs. In this qualitative study, we explored experiences exiting shelter for permanent housing among older adults in New York City, including their unique health needs. We worked collaboratively with five people with lived experience of homelessness as an older adult, two community organizations, and one government agency serving homeless adults to develop interview guides, recruit participants, and interpret results. This presentation will discuss preliminary results from interviews with currently and formerly homeless older adults, as well as the community engagement process. We conducted template and matrix analyses to identify common themes related to barriers and facilitators to the housing search process, housing needs and preferences, and changes in their lives since regaining housing (for those who were formerly homeless). Findings underscore the unique experiences of older homeless adults, the need for targeted interventions to reduce and end homelessness among this population, and the importance of community-engaged research at the intersection of homelessness and health.