Category: Homeless

Public Health

Current Awareness

Source: KnowledgeShare

Evaluation of the Changing Futures programme.
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities; 2024.

(The evaluation aims to understand the impact of the Changing Futures programme on people experiencing multiple disadvantage. It also aims to examine how changes at a wider system level affect the way services operate and are delivered. Changing Futures is playing a key role in supporting people to access services and supporting people by coordinating access to different services.)

Making Prepared Foods Healthier & More Sustainable: The Case for Regulating Ready-made Meals in the EU.
Fern; 2024.

(This study finds that a significant and increasing portion of food eaten in the EU comes in the form of ready-made meals (currently 17%, and rising rapidly), which are less healthy and sustainable than food consumed in other forms. Placing legal requirements on the content of these meals could thus significantly reduce the harmful health and environmental impacts of EU food consumption, without burdening consumers.)

1,000 voices not 1: a report highlighting differences in cancer care in the UK.
Bristol Myers Squibb; 2024.

(To form the foundations of the Cancer Equals campaign (which aims to understand and help address the many factors leading to delays to diagnosis and differences in experiences of cancer across the UK), Bristol Myers Squibb carried out quantitative and qualitative research in partnership with Shine Cancer Support. This research report highlights some of the challenges that people living with cancer are facing and the inequalities that exist in how cancer is experienced across the UK.)


Always at the Bottom of the Pile: The Homeless and Inclusion Health Barometer 2024.
Pathway & Crisis; 2024.

(This report from homelessness charities Pathway and Crisis reveals how the national crisis facing England’s health and housing systems leads to worsening health for people in inclusion health groups. Drawing on 85 pieces of published literature from the past two years, and a survey of frontline medical and health care professionals, the findings reveal how those who are most excluded in our society struggle to access health services due to inflexibility, discrimination and stigma.)

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Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

Source: KnowledgeShare

All you need to know about Households Below Average Income (HBAI).
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG); 2024.

(There are several different measures of poverty in the statistics as there is no perfect way to measure poverty. This briefing explains what poverty is, how it can be measured, the different measures in HBAI, recent trends in poverty and additional statistics that can further our understanding of poverty.)

‘Always at the bottom of the pile’: the Homeless and Inclusion Health Barometer 2024.
Pathway and Crisis; 2024.

(This report reveals how the national crisis facing both the UK’s health and housing systems leads to worsening health for people in inclusion health groups. Drawing on 85 pieces of published literature from the past two years, and a survey of frontline medical and health care professionals, the findings reveal how those who are most excluded in our society struggle to access health services due to inflexibility, discrimination and stigma.)

Autism and Homelessness Toolkit.
Homeless Link; 2024.

(The toolkit is designed for homelessness service providers who engage with and support autistic individuals experiencing homelessness. It is particularly valuable for those seeking to enhance their understanding and effectiveness in working with autistic individuals and it provides essential information and practical guidance to improve support within homelessness services.)

Drug and alcohol treatment for victims and suspects of homicide.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2024.

(A Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) report looking at the use of substance misuse treatment services by victims and suspects of homicide in England. The report includes information and findings on treatment characteristics of victims and suspects, such as their sociodemographic, accommodation and employment status; and characteristics of the homicide and the relationships between victims and suspects and whether the homicide was drug-related.)

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Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

COVID-19 vaccines for autumn 2022: JCVI advice, 15 August 2022.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2022.
(Statement setting out the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on COVID-19 vaccines for autumn 2022.)

NHS prescription charges in England.
House of Commons Library; 2022.
(The cost of an NHS prescription, who is entitled to free prescriptions and how to get help with prescription costs.)

Homeless hostel residents and staff struggle to access health and social care services.
The Mental Elf; 2022.
(In her debut blog, Ava Phillips summarises a paper that finds both people living in homeless hostels, and staff working there, feel marginalised and struggle to access the health and social care they need.)

As waiting lists grow for anxiety disorders, should we be turning to digital interventions?
The Mental Elf; 2022.
(Theo Kyriacou and Andie Ashdown explore a recent systematic review that brings together two decades of research, which suggests that digital health interventions for anxiety disorders may be a more effective alternative to inactive controls, such as waiting-list groups.)

No place for cheap alcohol: the potential value of minimum pricing for protecting lives.
World Health Organization (WHO); 2022.
(Pricing policies and taxation are among the most effective measures that policy-makers can use to address these harms, but they remain underutilized across the Region. This report reviews the status of implementation of minimum pricing globally, provides an overview of the most recent evidence behind the policy, addresses its main strengths and limitations and offers practical considerations for countries.)

Covid 19

Current awareness updates

COVID-19: letter to patients on end of shielding programme.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Reference-only version of letter from the government to patients on the end of the shielding programme.]

COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long-term effects of COVID-19.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2021.
[This guideline covers identifying, assessing and managing the long-term effects of COVID-19, often described as ‘long COVID’. On 11 November, NICE made new recommendations and updated existing recommendations on identification; planning care; multidisciplinary rehabilitation; follow up, monitoring and discharge; and service organisation. NICE also updated the list of common symptoms, emphasising that these may be different for children.]

COVID-19 booster vaccine programme for winter 2021 to 2022: JCVI statement, November 2021.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2021.
[This statement sets out further advice from JCVI on extension of the booster programme to revaccinate adults aged 40 to 49 years against COVID-19. The main aim of this booster vaccination programme is to reduce deaths, serious disease and hospitalisations from COVID-19 over the 2021 to 2022 winter period and through 2022.]

Why we think you should say yes to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group; 2021.
[An information leaflet about the COVID-19 vaccine where clinicians and faith leaders highlight the importance of having the vaccine. The leaflet has been translated into the following languages: Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Czech, Farsi, Kurdish Sorani, Polish, Punjabi, Romanian, Slovak, Tigrinya and Urdu. Audio versions of the leaflet are available for each of those languages.]

No one wants to see my baby: challenges to building back better for babies.
Parent-Infant Foundation; 2021.
[This report explores the continued impact of Covid-19 on babies. It consists of a survey of professionals, in-depth studies with 11 families and a review of the literature, conducted with partner organisations Home-Start and Best Beginnings. The report shows that many services across the UK are not operating as they were before the pandemic, and babies and their families are missing out as a result.]

Essential and Invisible: Filipino irregular migrants in the UK’s ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Kanlungan Filipino Consortium; 2021.
[For many in the United Kingdom, it might feel as if the “crisis” of the COVID-19 pandemic is coming to an end. Yet for irregular migrants, the pandemic has become a protracted struggle to survive. This report is based on interviews with Filipino irregular migrants based in the UK conducted in Spring 2021, compared to the same interviewees’ responses in Spring 2020.]

Coronavirus: support for landlords and tenants.
House of Commons Library; 2021.
[This briefing explains measures during the coronavirus outbreak to help renting households retain their homes. It covers calls for more assistance to prevent evictions and homelessness.]

Drug-related harms in homeless populations and how they can be reduced

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, September 2019

This report finds that there is increased risk of problematic drug use associated with people who experience homelessness. There is a higher rate of drug-related deaths, infections among people who inject drugs, and multiple morbidities. People who experience homelessness and use substances have particularly complex circumstances and additional risks which require intensive long-term support. An integrated health, social care, and community care approach to the recovery and housing needs of people who are homeless would provide the optimal model of service delivery. This must include a focus on safe, stable housing and evidence-based harm reduction initiatives.

Click here to view the full report.

Bleak houses: Tackling the crisis of family homelessness in England

Children’s Commissioner, August 2019

This report shines a light on this homelessness crisis and shares the experiences of some of those children. Growing up in a stable, healthy and secure home is so important for any child. Yet we know there are thousands of children in England who are living in homeless families, stuck in poor quality temporary accommodation, often with low prospects of finding something permanent. There are many others who are at risk of ending up homeless.

Click here to view the full report.