ArticleHarm reduction journal2020
Harm reduction in an emergency response to homelessness during South Africa's COVID-19 lockdown.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- COVID-19 in the homeless population: a scoping review and meta-analysis examining differences in prevalence, presentation, vaccine hesitancy and government response in the first year of the pandemic.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Tuberculosis (TB) service utilisation pre and peri-COVID-19 restrictions in Johannesburg, Gauteng.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2026Article
- Exploring occupational therapy interventions in homeless settings in Tshwane.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2026Article
- Encampments as neighbors: Encampment location and proximity to amenities among Seattle, WA's unhoused population.Cities (London, England) · 2026Article
- Innovations at the intersection of homelessness and substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Methadone use for acute opioid withdrawal in Tshwane shelters during the COVID-19 lockdown.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2023Article
- Mental health symptoms among homeless shelter residents during COVID-19 lockdown in Tshwane, South Africa.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2023Article
- A COVID-19 isolation facility for people experiencing homelessness in Berlin, Germany: a retrospective patient record study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- The demography and disease burden of the homeless shelter population of Tshwane during COVID-19.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2022Article
- Emerging from the global syndemic crucible: Finding belonging in a post corona future.Futures · 2022Article
- Managing acute opioid withdrawal with tramadol during COVID-19 lockdown in a peri-urban setting.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2022Article
- Caring for people experiencing homelessness in times of crisis: Realities of essential service providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Copenhagen, Denmark.International journal of disaster risk reduction : IJDRR · 2022Article
- Infrastructural Inequality and Household COVID-19 Vulnerability in a South African Urban Settlement.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2022Article
- Evaluation of an emergency safe supply drugs and managed alcohol program in COVID-19 isolation hotel shelters for people experiencing homelessness.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- The impact of an integrated safer use space and safer supply program on non-fatal overdose among emergency shelter residents during a COVID-19 outbreak: a case study.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Vulnerability assessment of Iran's rural-farmer households during COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Managed alcohol: one community's innovative response to risk management during COVID-19.Harm reduction journal · 2021Article
- Early innovations in opioid use disorder treatment and harm reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2021Article
- The role played by family physicians in providing health services for the sheltered homeless populations during COVID-19 lockdown in the Tshwane district.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2021Article
- SARS-Cov-2 prevalence, transmission, health-related outcomes and control strategies in homeless shelters: Systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCaledonian Stadium, the main mass temporary shelter for homeless people in the City of Tshwane, was created as a local response to the imperatives of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) National State of Disaster lockdown in South Africa. This is a case study of the coordinated emergency healthcare response provided by the University of Pretoria's Department of Family Medicine between 24 March and 6 April 2020.
methodsThis study uses a narrative approach to restory situated, transient, partial and provisional knowledge. Analysis is based on documented data and iteratively triangulated interviews on the operational experiences of selected healthcare first responders directly involved in the shelter.
resultsThe impending lockdown generated intense interactions by UP-DFM to prepare for the provision of COVID-19 and essential generalist primary with partners involved in the Community Oriented Substance Use Programme (COSUP). With approximately 2000 people at the shelter at its peak, the numbers exceeded expectations. Throughout, while government officials tried to secure bedding, food and toilets, the shelter was poorly equipped and without onsite management. The COSUP clinical team prioritised opioid substitution therapy using methadone and COVID-19 screening over generalist healthcare to manage withdrawal and contain tension and anxiety. COSUP and its partners helped the city plan and implement the safe re-sheltering of all Caledonian residents.
conclusionThe Caledonian shelter is an account of organisational resilience in the face of homelessness and substance use emergencies triggered by lockdown. Through community-oriented, bottom-up self-organisation, a clinically led team navigated a response to the immediate needs of people who are homeless and/or use drugs that evolved into a more sustainable intervention. Key lessons learnt were the importance of communicating with people directly affected by emergencies, the value of using methadone to reduce harms during emergencies and the imperative of including OST in essential primary healthcare.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.