- Title
- Implementation and refinement of a community health nurse model of support for people experiencing homelessness in Australia: a collaborative approach
- Creator
- Goeman, Dianne; Howard, Jane; Ogrin, Rajna
- Relation
- BMJ Open Vol. 9, Issue 11, no. e030982
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030982
- Publisher
- BMJ Group
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2019
- Description
- Objective: To implement, refine and evaluate an assertive community health nurse (CHN) model of support for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness that aims to improve their access to health and social care services. Methods: Participants were recruited between 30 August 2013 and 31 October 2015, including clients residing in a Victorian southern Melbourne metropolitan suburb, who registered with the CHN and stakeholders from local service provider organisations engaging with the CHN. A collaborative approach using demographic data collected from client records to identify need and measure the time clients took to engage and access services, qualitative data gathered during Stakeholder Advisory Group meetings and feedback from face-to-face interviews with service organisation representatives informed refinement of the CHN model. Results: Thirty-nine clients (22 Female, mean age 50±11 years) participated. Clients engaged with services after an average of seven CHN visits. Eighteen clients independently accessed services after approximately 9weeks, including medical and housing services. Client need and feedback from 20 stakeholders and three community nurses contributed to refining the model to ensure it met local needs and informed the necessary organisational framework, the CHN role and the attributes, knowledge and the skills required. Conclusion: A collaborative CHN model of support for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness has been articulated. Evaluation of the role demonstrated increased client engagement with health and community services and social activities. Additionally, the CHN assisted other service providers in their delivery of care to this very complex client group.
- Subject
- homelessness; housing services; community services; Australia; SDG 11; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1429136
- Identifier
- uon:38686
- Identifier
- ISSN:2044-6055
- Rights
- © Author(s)(or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
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