Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39313287›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2024

Hostel support workers' experiences navigating healthcare alongside people experiencing homelessness: a qualitative study in the UK.

Iman Muzafar, Oliver Cunningham

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. A Different Way of Working: Embedding Clinical Psychology Placements in Third Sector Organisations Supporting People Experiencing Homelessness.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Iman MuzafarImperial College London, London, UK iman.muzafar@kcl.ac.uk.ORCID 0009-0006-3988-2399
Oliver CunninghamImperial College London, London, UK.ORCID 0009-0002-7911-3579

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThis study aimed to explore how hostel support workers (HSWs) experience navigating healthcare alongside people experiencing homelessness (PEH). PEH experience poor health outcomes, increased mortality and face many barriers when accessing healthcare. HSWs have a dynamic and holistic role, working with PEH to navigate access to health and social care, whilst facilitating independence. HSWs have been described as important in addressing barriers to access and linking healthcare and PEH. However, HSWs' experiences navigating this role across sectors remains underexplored.

designIn this qualitative study, semistructured interviews were conducted, and phenomenological thematic analysis was performed.

settingInterviews were conducted with participants from 13 hostels across four UK counties.

participants17 HSWs were interviewed, with experience in their role ranging from 3 months to over 10 years.

resultsThree themes were identified.HSWs feeling stigmatised by healthcare staff (HCS), including power inequalities between HSWs and HCS, and the impact of stigma against PEH in healthcare on HSWs.Working across sectors, including both collaborative and disconnected experiences.In-reach and its role in linking PEH and healthcare. This included the contrasting subthemes of in-reach as an effective link versus in-reach being an impractical and unsustainable solution.

conclusionsCross-sector collaboration has been recognised as an effective way to increase healthcare access and improve outcomes for Inclusion Health Groups, including PEH. This has been further highlighted by the formation of Integrated Care Systems, which strive to bring sectors together to tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience and access. Collaborative relationships between sectors, that is, hostels and healthcare, are vital for increasing healthcare access for PEH. We explored the experiences of HSWs navigating healthcare access for this marginalised population. Recognising and understanding these experiences are the first steps in building collaborative cross-sector relationships to improve healthcare accessibility, experiences and outcomes for PEH.

Indexed as

Health Services AccessibilityIll-Housed PersonsQualitative ResearchAdultFemaleHealth PersonnelHumansInterviews as TopicMaleMiddle AgedSocial StigmaUnited KingdomHealth EquityHealth ServicesHealth Services AccessibilityQualitative Research

Identifiers

PMID39313287
PMCPMC11418567

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Registered trials

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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.