Goals and Principles of Providers Working with People Experiencing Homelessness: A Comparison Between Housing First and Traditional Staircase Services in Eight European Countries

Department of Research and Innovation, Support Unit for clinical research and economic evaluation, Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Marseille, 13385 Marseille, France

APPsyCI—Applied Psychology Research Center Capabilities and Inclusion, ISPA-Instituto Universitário, Lisboa 1149-041, Portugal

⁴

FEANTSA, European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless, Bruxelles 1210, Belgique

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Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, Limerick V94 T9PX, Ireland

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Impuls-Netherlands Center for Social Care Research, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen 6525 EZ, The Netherlands

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Institute of Psychology, Opole University, Opole 45-052, Poland

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Rais Fundación, 28028 Madrid, Spain

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STAD, Stockholm Center for Psychiatry Research and Education, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 113 64, Sweden

¹⁰

Department of Human and Organizational Development, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(9), 1590; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091590

Received: 22 March 2019 / Revised: 29 April 2019 / Accepted: 2 May 2019 / Published: 7 May 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health of Marginalized People)

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Abstract

The implementation and adaptation of the Housing First (HF) model represented profound changes the structure and delivery, goals, and principles of homeless services. These features of homeless services directly influence providers, their work performance and the clients’ outcomes. The present research, conducted in eight European countries, investigated how social providers working in HF or TS (Traditional Staircase) describe and conceptualize the goals and the principles of their services. Data were collected through 29 focus group discussions involving 121 providers. The results showed that HF and TS had similar and different goals for their clients in the following areas: support, social integration, satisfaction of needs, housing, and well-being. HF providers emphasized clients’ autonomy and ability to determine their personal goals, with housing being considered a start on the path of recovery, while TS were more focused on individual clients’ basic needs with respect to food, health and finding temporary accommodations. HF providers privileged the person-centered approach and housing as a right, while TS providers were more focused on helping everyone. Implications of the results are discussed as suggestions both for practice and for research. View Full-Text

Keywords: goals; principles; service delivery; housing first; providers; homelessness; cross-national study

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

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MDPI and ACS Style

Gaboardi, M.; Lenzi, M.; Disperati, F.; Santinello, M.; Vieno, A.; Tinland, A.; Vargas-Moniz, M.J.; Spinnewijn, F.; O’Shaughnessy, B.R.; Wolf, J.R.; Bokszczanin, A.; Bernad, R.; Beijer, U.; Ornelas, J.; Shinn, M.; Consortium Study Group, H.-E. Goals and Principles of Providers Working with People Experiencing Homelessness: A Comparison Between Housing First and Traditional Staircase Services in Eight European Countries. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1590. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091590

AMA Style

Gaboardi M, Lenzi M, Disperati F, Santinello M, Vieno A, Tinland A, Vargas-Moniz MJ, Spinnewijn F, O’Shaughnessy BR, Wolf JR, Bokszczanin A, Bernad R, Beijer U, Ornelas J, Shinn M, Consortium Study Group H-E. Goals and Principles of Providers Working with People Experiencing Homelessness: A Comparison Between Housing First and Traditional Staircase Services in Eight European Countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(9):1590. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091590

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gaboardi, Marta, Michela Lenzi, Francesca Disperati, Massimo Santinello, Alessio Vieno, Aurélie Tinland, Maria J. Vargas-Moniz, Freek Spinnewijn, Branagh R. O’Shaughnessy, Judith R. Wolf, Anna Bokszczanin, Roberto Bernad, Ulla Beijer, José Ornelas, Marybeth Shinn, and HOME-EU Consortium Study Group. 2019. "Goals and Principles of Providers Working with People Experiencing Homelessness: A Comparison Between Housing First and Traditional Staircase Services in Eight European Countries" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 9: 1590. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091590

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