Community Voices: Insights on Social and Human services from People with Lived Experiences of Homelessness

Christine Ann Walsh (), Liza Lorenzetti, Natalie St-Denis, Percy Murwisi and Tracy Ray Lewis
Additional contact information
Christine Ann Walsh: Professor, Associate Dean (Research and Partnerships) Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary
Liza Lorenzetti: Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary
Natalie St-Denis: Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary

Review of Social Sciences, 2016, vol. 1, issue 2, 27-41

Abstract: Community Voices is a participatory action research study conducted in collaboration with people with lived experiences of homelessness in Calgary, Alberta to gather insights into service provision. Following convenience and snowball recruitment strategies, seven focus groups with members of the homeless community were conducted by trained facilitators. Participants and other community members were invited as co-researchers to analyze focus group transcripts, highlight key issues, develop themes and recommendations, and share key findings with stakeholders. Study findings suggest that people who are homeless experience oppression at the personal, cultural and structural levels which make it less likely for them to exit homelessness. Our findings suggests that a housing first approach coupled with intensive personalized case management embedded within a human rights framework has the capacity to reduce homelessness and overcome the barriers that prevent individuals from exiting homelessness. Such interventions, however, require substantial investment to increase the stock of affordable housing units, improve current shelter facilities, and educate personnel in anti-oppressive practices and a political commitment to recognize housing as a human right. Classification JEL : I14; I38; Z18.

Keywords: Homelessness; Human rights; Participatory action research; Services; Social work. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.socialsciencejournal.org/index.php/site/article/view/7/9 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lrc:larrss:v:1:y:2016:i:2:p:27-41

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Review of Social Sciences from LAR Center Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by H Kabir ().