Abstracts
Abstract
When addressing homelessness, often the last group to be included as participants in the process are those experiencing homelessness. Without understanding the perspective of those with lived experience and including them in the change process, it is unlikely that meaningful outcomes will be achieved. To better understand the inclusion and perspective of those with lived experience regarding community-based homelessness alleviation efforts, we conducted a phenomenological study focusing solely on those experiencing homelessness. The eight participants engaged in semi-structured interviews that revealed similarities and differences to extant research on efforts to address homelessness. Our results provide insight into how including lived experience may benefit community-based homelessness efforts.
Keywords:
- homelessness,
- lived experience,
- chronic homelessness,
- homelessness alleviation,
- inclusion,
- Community-based homelessness alleviation,
- people with lived experience (PWLE)
Appendices
Bibliography
- Ahuja, N., Nguyen, A., Winter, S., Freeman, M., Shi, R., Rodriguez-Espinosa, P., & Heaney, C. (2020). Well-being without a roof: Examining well-being among unhoused individuals using mixed methods and propensity score matching. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7228), 7228. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197228
- Allaria, C., Loubière, S., Mosnier, E., Monfardini, E., Auquier, P., & Tinland, A. (2021). “Locked down outside”: Perception of hazard and health resources in COVID-19 epidemic context among homeless people. SSM: Population Health, 15, 100829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100829
- Amaral, D. J. (2022). Shelter and the storm: The local politics of homelessness in urban California [Doctoral dissertation, UC Santa Cruz]. https://escholarship.org/content/qt7td4w0p8/qt7td4w0p8.pdf
- Betancourt, C., Goldberg, D., Hawks, B., & Kitsantas, P. (2023). Perspectives of homeless veterans living with substance use disorders (SUD) and mental illness. Heliyon, 9(10), e20364–. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20364
- Bopp, C., & Voida, A. (2023). "Showing the context": A need for oligopticonic information systems in homelessness measurement. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 7(Cscw1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1145/3579622
- Brar, P., Worley, J., Kelly, E. D., So, M., McRee, A.-L., & Mehus, C. J. (2022). Development of a shelter-based health empowerment program for pregnant and parenting youth experiencing homelessness. Progress in Community Health Partnerships, 16(4), 473–489. https://doi.org/10.1353/cpr.2022.0070
- Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.
- Desmond, M. (2023). Poverty, by America. (First edition). Crown.
- Eatough, V., & Smith, J. A. (2017). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In C. Willig and W. Stainton Rogers (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Psychology, 2nd Edition (pp. 193-211). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526405555.n12
- Exec. Order No. 14321, 90 FR 35817 (2025). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/29/2025-14391/ending-crime-and-disorder-on-americas-streets
- Fowler, P. J., Hovmand, P. S., Marcal, K. E., & Das, S. (2019). Solving homelessness from a complex systems perspective: Insights for prevention responses. Annual Review Of Public Health, 40(1), 465-486.
- Gaboardi, M., Santinello, M., & Shinn, M. (2021). Beyond behaviour: Rethinking integration for people experiencing homelessness. Health and Social Care in the Community, 29(3), 846-855. https:// doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13314
- Gros, A. E. (2017). Alfred Schutz on phenomenological psychology and transcendental phenomenology. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 48(2), 214-239. https://doi.org/10.1163/15691624-12341329
- Hastings, C. (2024). Why do some disadvantaged Australian families become homeless? Resources, disadvantage, housing and welfare. Housing studies, 39(10), 2479-2503. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2023.2194248
- H.R.2410 – 99th Congress (1985-1986): Health Professions Training Assistance Act of 1985. (1985, October 22). https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/house-bill/2410/text
- Ilyniak, S. (2022). Make work methodology: Canadian homelessness research and its role in austerity. Radical Housing Journal, 4(2), 139–156. https://doi.org/10.54825/HJAT4040
- Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Health Care for Homeless People. (1988). Homelessness, health, and human needs. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/1092
- Kopec, A. (2022). The politics of homelessness: Poverty, policy, and political participation (Doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto (Canada)). https://utoronto.scholaris.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/5f7c5343-7877-45e0-be53-71d3c4c30361/content
- Kopec, A., & Smith, A. (2024). Lived expertise in homelessness policy and governance. Social Sciences, 13(5), 271. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13050271
- Kube, A. R., Das, S., & Fowler, P. J. (2023). Fair and efficient allocation of scarce resources based on predicted outcomes: Implications for homeless service delivery. Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, 76, 1219-1245. https://doi.org/10.1613/jair.1.12847
- Lee, D., McGuire, M., & Kim, J. H. (2022). Collaboration, strategic plans, and government performance: The case of efforts to reduce homelessness. Toward a More Strategic View of Strategic Planning Research (pp. 51-67). Routledge.
- Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). 42 U.S. Code § 11302 – General definition of homeless individual. Cornell Law School. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/11302
- Lucas, D. S., & Boudreaux, C. J. (2024). When “what works” does not work: The United States’ mission to end homelessness. Moonshots and the New Industrial Policy: Questioning the Mission Economy, 145-168. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-49196-2_9
- Malenfant, J., Annan, J., Pin, L., Levac, L., & Buchnea, A. (2024). Toward the right to housing in Canada: Lived experience, research, and promising practices for deep engagement. Engaged Scholar Journal: Community Engaged Research, Teaching and Learning, 10(2), 1 22. https://doi.org/10.15402/esj.v10i2.70850
- Marshall, C. A., Phillips, B., Holmes, J., Todd, E., Hill, R., Panter, G., Easton, C., Landry, T., Collins, S., Greening, T., O’Brien, A., Jastak, M., Ridge, R., Goldszmidt, R., Shanoff, C., Laliberte Rudman, D., Carlsson, A., Aryobi, S., Perez, S., & Oudshoorn, A. (2022). “We stick people in a house and say okay, you’re housed. The problem is solved”: A qualitative study of service provider and organisational leader perspectives on thriving following homelessness. Health and Social Care in the Community, 30(6), e6018–e6029. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.14035
- McGeough, C., Walsh, A., & Clyne, B. (2020). Barriers and facilitators perceived by women while homeless and pregnant in accessing antenatal and or postnatal healthcare: A qualitative evidence synthesis. Health and Social Care in the Community, 28(5), 1380–1393. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12972
- McConalogue, D., Maunder, N., Areington, A., Martin, K., Clarke, V., & Scott, S. (2021). Homeless people and health: A qualitative enquiry into their practices and perceptions. Journal of Public Health (Oxford, England), 43(2), 287–294. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdz104
- Mejia-Lancheros, C., Lachaud, J., O’Campo, P., Wiens, K., Nisenbaum, R., Wang, R., Hwang, S. W., Stergiopoulos, V., & van Amelsvoort, T. (2020). Trajectories and mental health-related predictors of perceived discrimination and stigma among homeless adults with mental illness. Plos One, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229385
- Morales, L. M. R. (2024, April 16). Housing first policy: Finland – Finland’s “housing first” policy successfully tackles long term homelessness (2008–ongoing). SDG16.plus. https://www.sdg16.plus/policies/housing-first-policy-finland/
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Permanent supportive housing: Evaluating the evidence for improving health outcomes among people experiencing chronic homelessness. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25133
- National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2025). State of homelessness: 2025 edition. https://endhomelessness.org/state-of-homelessness
- Nelson, A. (2020). Nothing about us without us: Centering lived experience and revolutionary care in efforts to end and prevent homelessness in Canada. Radical Housing Journal, 2(2), 83–100. https://radicalhousingjournal.org/2020/nothing-about-us-without-us/
- Ndayisenga, J. P., Oudshoorn, A., Marshall, C. A., Barbic, S. P., Kidd, S. A., & Gaetz , S. A. (2024). Thriving after homelessness: A concept analysis. International Journal on Homelessness, 4(2), 281–295. https://doi.org/10.5206/ijoh.2023.3.16836
- Norman, T., Pauly, B., Marks, H., & Palazzo, D. (2015). Taking a leap of faith: Meaningful participation of people with experiences of homelessness in solutions to address homelessness. Journal of Social Inclusion, 6(2), https://doi.org/10.36251/josi82
- Nourazari, S., Lovato, K., & Weng, S. S. (2021). Making the case for proactive strategies to alleviate homelessness: A systems approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(2), 526. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020526
- Olson, C., Grande, S. W., Toran, W., & Walsh, W. (2024). Program evaluation and improvement by a homeless community using a human centered design approach. Journal of Participatory Research Methods, 5(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.35844/001c.92256
- Onapa, H., Sharpley, C. F., Bitsika, V., McMillan, M. E., MacLure, K., Smith, L., & Agnew, L. L. (2022). The physical and mental health effects of housing homeless people: A systematic review. Health and Social Care in the Community, 30(2), 448-468. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13486
- O’Regan, K. M., Ellen, I. G., & House, S. (2021). How to address homelessness: Reflections from research. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 693(1), 322-332. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716221995158
- O’Shaughnessy, B. R., & Greenwood, R. M. (2020). Autonomy and authority: Homeless service users’ empowering experiences in housing first and staircase services. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 31(3), 288–304. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2511
- Palimaru, A. I., McDonald, K., Garvey, R., D’Amico, E., & Tucker, J. (2023). The association between housing stability and perceived quality of life among emerging adults with a history of homelessness. Health and Social Care in the Community, 2023, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/2402610
- Paradis-Gagné, E., Jacques, M.-C., Pariseau-Legault, P., Ben Ahmed, H. E., & Stroe, I. R. (2023). The perspectives of homeless people using the services of a mobile health clinic in relation to their health needs: A qualitative study on community-based outreach nursing. Journal of Research in Nursing, 28(2), 154–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/17449871231159595
- Pendyal, A., Rosenthal, M. S., Spatz, E. S., Cunningham, A., Bliesener, D., & Keene, D. E. (2021). “When you’re homeless, they look down on you”: A qualitative, community-based study of homeless individuals with heart failure. Heart and Lung: The Journal of Critical Care, 50(1), 80–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrtlng.2020.08.001
- Reilly, J., Ho, I., & Williamson, A. (2022). A systematic review of the effect of stigma on the health of people experiencing homelessness. Health and Social Care in the Community, 30(6), 2128–2141. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13884
- Smith, J. A., & Osborn, M. (2015). Interpretative phenomenological analysis as a useful methodology for research on the lived experience of pain. British Journal of Pain, 9(1), 41-42. https://doi.org/10.1177/2049463714541642
- Stewart, K., & Townley, G. (2019). Community and well-being: A qualitative study of how youth experiencing homelessness define community and its relations to their well-being. Journal of Community Psychology, 48(3), 994–1009. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22319
- Slota, S. C., Fleischmann, K. R., Lee, M. K., Greenberg, S. R., Nigam, I., Zimmerman, T., Rodriguez, S., & Snow, J. (2023). A feeling for the data: How government and nonprofit stakeholders negotiate value conflicts in data science approaches to ending homelessness. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 74(6), 727–741. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24715
- Stoner, M. R. (1989). Beyond shelter: Policy directions for the prevention of homelessness. Social Work Research and Abstracts, 25(4), 7–11.
- Susser, E., Lovell, A., & Conover, S. (2021). Unravelling the causes of homelessness–And of its association with mental illness. In Epidemiology and the Prevention of Mental Disorders (pp. 228-239). Routledge.
- Teichner, M. (2024). Inside Houston's successful strategy to reduce homelessness. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-houston-successfully-reduced-homelessness/
- Topping, P. (2022, April 18). Two thousand too many: Arkansas’s failure to protect its homeless population. The Arkansas Journal of Social Change and Public Service. https://ualr.edu/socialchange/2022/04/18/two-thousand-too-many-arkansass-failure-to-protect-its-homeless-population/
- Van Berkum, A., Oudshoorn, A., & Garnett, A. (2025). A systems approach to homelessness prevention for older adults. The Gerontologist, 65(6), gnaf087. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaf087
- Zhao, E. (2023). The key factors contributing to the persistence of homelessness. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 30(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2022.2120109

