Supporting Female Survivors of Gender-Based Violence Experiencing Homelessness: Outcomes of a Health Promotion Psychoeducation Group Intervention.

Ali Bani-Fatemi,Amanda Noble,Deborah Kahan,Vicky Stergiopoulos,Monica Malta,Wei Wang,Thanara Rajakulendran

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.601540

Abstract

Homelessness is an important risk factor for gender-based violence (GBV), particularly among youth, and disproportionally affects women and girls. Survivors of GBV experience enduring and severe physical, psychological, and sexual health problems. Although key elements in service delivery for survivors of GBV have been identified, little is known about outcomes of community-based programs aiming to assist homeless and unstably housed youth experiencing GBV. This longitudinal study aimed to quantitatively evaluate changes in mental health and well-being outcomes in female identified youth experiencing GBV and homelessness, 12 months after enrolment in a community-based, trauma-informed, brief group psychoeducation intervention. Standardized survey measures were administered at baseline, 6 and 12 months for 70 participants, recruited between February 2017 and April 2019, assessing quality of life, psychological distress, traumatic symptoms, substance use, resilience, victimization, and sense of mastery. Linear mixed models were used to examine longitudinal changes in quality of life as well as secondary outcomes among study participants. After 12 months, quality of life increased significantly among participants (p = 0.009), and the 12-month victimization score was significantly decreased relative to baseline (p = 0.05). Changes in other outcomes were not statistically significant. Findings suggest that community-based brief group psychoeducation interventions may be a promising approach to improving outcomes for this disadvantaged population.

Highlights

Gender-based violence (GBV) defined as any harmful act committed against a person because of his/her gender [1, 2] and disproportionately affects women and girls [3]
Surviving Gender-Based Violence and Homelessness in youth is an important risk factor for GBV, and homeless youth are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation and trafficking [5,6,7]
Covenant House Toronto (CHT) partnered with the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), affiliated with the University of Toronto

Summary

Introduction

Gender-based violence (GBV) defined as any harmful act committed against a person because of his/her gender [1, 2] and disproportionately affects women and girls [3]. Surviving Gender-Based Violence and Homelessness in youth is an important risk factor for GBV, and homeless youth are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation and trafficking [5,6,7]. The health-related impact of GBV includes physical injuries [9], chronic pain syndromes, memory problems, urogenital, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, dermatological, eye, ear, and upper respiratory complaints, forced abortions, cervical cancer, and sexually transmitted infections [10,11,12]. Mental health problems include depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anger, dissociative disorders, grief, guilt, aggressive behaviors, self-harm and suicidal ideation [13,14,15,16], as well as substance use and dependence [17]

Methods

Results

Conclusion