Anti-oppressive social work as a tool to reduce barriers to access health care services for homeless people

Abstract

Based on research findings on the experience of homeless people living in shelters with the use of health care services, this article shows how oppression can negatively affect the access of the homeless to health care. The acquired data shows that oppression associated with the status of a shelter user creates barriers to health care access – and not only in terms of financial barriers. In their narratives, the communication partners verbalized the oppression by doctors, other health care staff and patients. The aim of this paper is, on the basis of partial data from research, to discuss the possibilities of using anti-oppressive social work as a way to reduce the barriers to access to health care services in a given target group. The output of our article consists of proposed implications for social work practice.