Health Care While Homeless: Barriers, Facilitators, and the Lived Experiences of Homeless Individuals Accessing Health Care in a Canadian Regional Municipality

This qualitative descriptive study through the lens of a transformative framework was used to identify barriers and facilitators to accessing health care as perceived by people experiencing homelessness in the regional municipality of Niagara, Canada. The barriers discovered included affordability, challenges finding primary care, the inadequacy of the psychiatric model, inappropriate management, lack of trust in health care providers, poor therapeutic relationships, systemic issues, and transportation and accessibility. Facilitators included the accessibility of services, community health care outreach, positive relationships, and shelters coordinating health care. The study finding is that knowledge of the direct experiences of marginalized individuals can help create new health policies and enhance the provision of clinical care.

Publication Date: 
2019
Publisher(s): 
Sage
Location: 
Canada