Abstract
Housing stability is a key outcome in studies evaluating housing services for the homeless population. Housing stability has typically been defined dichotomously and based on a fixed duration of maintenance in housing accommodations, which does not fully capture change in housing status among homeless individuals. Moreover, few typologies have examined housing trajectories across different housing types. Cluster analysis was used to develop a typology of housing status change for 270 currently or formerly homeless individuals in Quebec (Canada) residing in shelters and temporary and permanent housing. Participants were interviewed at baseline (T0) and 12 months later (T1). The Gelberg–Andersen Model was used to organize housing-related variables into predisposing, needs and enabling factors. Comparison analyses were conducted to assess group differences. Three groups (Groups 1, 3 and 4) had more favorable and two (Groups 2 and 5) less favorable, housing status at T1. Findings suggest that maintenance or improvement of housing status requires suitable types and frequencies of service use (enabling factors) that are well adapted to the nature and complexity of health problems (needs factors) among homeless individuals. Specific interventions, such as outreach programs and case management, should be prioritized for individuals at higher risk for returning to homelessness.
Highlights
Homelessness and housing instability have serious impact on the health and the well-being of individuals [1]
The objective of this study was to develop a typology for housing status change using an adapted version of the Gelberg–Andersen Model, for a cohort of 270 currently or formerly homeless individuals residing in different types of housing in Quebec (Canada)
For certain variables, clinical records could have been used to verify and complement information provided by participants. This was the first known study to develop a typology based on change in housing status over 12 months for homeless individuals residing in three different types of accommodations
Summary
Homelessness and housing instability have serious impact on the health and the well-being of individuals [1]. Housing stability is a key outcome in studies evaluating housing services for the homeless population [2,3,4]. Most studies categorize participants as either housed or homeless [7,8,9] and include relatively few dimensions in defining housing trajectories, such as type of accommodation (e.g., living with family or friends, in supportive housing, etc.) and housing duration (e.g., 90 consecutive days, or longer) [5,6]. Restricting the definition of housing stability to time-limited duration of housing maintenance fails to capture the housing trajectories of homeless individuals that range along a continuum of short-, mediumand long-term services, from emergency shelters and temporary housing (TH, i.e., housing offering accommodation during a period usually for up to 24 months) [10] to PH. Considering the heterogeneity among homeless population, it is likely that various characteristics may relate to housing
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