Abstract
Background: Nurses must understand the needs and barriers of people who are homeless when they are in a health care environment in order to render effective care. Objective: The objective of this review is to synthesize research findings on studies that examine the needs and barriers of people who are homeless in Canada when they intersect with health care providers. Methods: A scope of manuscripts, published in English from 1980 to 2011 that assess the needs and barriers of people experiencing homelessness in Canada when in the health sector without limitation on study design from different electronic databases and manual searches, was conducted. Results: Six articles (N=4 qualitative, N=2 quantitative) met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Eight themes emerged from a narrative synthesis of the findings. Conclusion: Individuals who are homeless have multiple needs when in the health care sector. Thus, collaboration among different disciplines is essential in order to provide them with holistic care.
Highlights
Homelessness increases an individual’s risk to serious health conditions and multiple barriers in everyday life [1]
The purpose of this systematic review is to find out what is known about the needs and barriers of people experiencing homelessness when they meet with health care providers
Eighteen articles were excluded either because the setting for the manuscripts was not in Canada, they were not research manuscripts, and their goals were not on the needs of people who are homeless when they meet with health care professionals
Summary
Homelessness increases an individual’s risk to serious health conditions and multiple barriers in everyday life [1]. When the physical health conditions of people who are homeless is compared to the general population, the rates of most chronic illnesses and physical ailments among the population experiencing homelessness are higher, higher prevalence of hepatitis, diabetes, heart and lung disease, cancer, psychiatric conditions and infectious diseases are found [2,3]. Unintentional injuries such as falls or being struck by a vehicle are common problems among this population, especially men experiencing homelessness [3]. Nurses must understand the needs and barriers of people who are homeless when they are in a health care environment in order to render effective care
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