Shelter Experience Research Articles

“It feels like I’m a step closer to my ultimate goal of stable housing:” a qualitative study of unhoused people’s experiences in alternative shelters in Portland

ABSTRACT In recent years, alternatives to congregate shelters have emerged, including tiny home villages and motel conversions. Existing research indicates that these alternative shelter modalities are associated with positive outcomes for shelter guests. This qualitative study was conducted with 11 participants staying in three alternative shelters tailored to support specific groups: lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) people, women, and medically vulnerable people. Participants reported a number of facilitators and barriers to meeting their personal goals (e.g., permanent housing, medical care). Key facilitators included the relative privacy, autonomy, and safety of alternative shelters, and support for guests with marginalized identities. Barriers included difficulty navigating housing systems, and lack of internet and mail access. Given the drawbacks of congregate shelters, these new models are promising options to support unhoused people when permanent housing is not yet available.

A qualitative assessment of cleaning and hand hygiene practices at shelters serving people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic, Atlanta, GA – May-June, 2020

BackgroundCleaning practices and hand hygiene are important behaviors to prevent and control the spread of infectious disease, especially in congregate settings. This project explored hygiene- and cleaning-related experiences in shelters serving people experiencing homelessness (PEH) during May–June 2020 of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe conducted qualitative, in-depth interviews by phone with 22 staff from six shelters in Atlanta, Georgia. The interview guide included questions about cleaning routines, cleaning barriers and facilitators, cleaning promotion, hand hygiene promotion, and hand hygiene barriers and facilitators. We analyzed interview transcripts using thematic analysis.ResultsMultiple individuals, such as shelter individuals (clients), volunteers, and staff, played a role in shelter cleaning. Staff reported engaging in frequent hand hygiene and cleaning practices. Barriers to cleaning included staffing shortages and access to cleaning supplies. Staff reported barriers (e.g., differing perceptions of cleanliness) for clients who were often involved in cleaning activities. Barriers to hand hygiene included limited time to wash hands, forgetting, and inconvenient handwashing facilities. Specific guidance about when and how to clean, and what supplies to use, were requested.ConclusionDuring the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, shelters serving PEH in the Atlanta-metro area needed resources and support to ensure sufficient staffing and supplies for cleaning activities. As part of future pandemic planning and outbreak prevention efforts, shelters serving PEH could benefit from specific guidance and training materials on cleaning and hand hygiene practices.

Reassessing measures of risk for homelessness among families with children in New York City

This study reassessed risks that researchers have identified as predicting homelessness among families in New York City. These risks form the basis of a screening tool called the Risk Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ). It is used by NYC's homelessness prevention program, Homebase, to determine services to provide families. An RAQ score of 7 or above, on a 25-point scale, indicates high risk and greater service needs. This study's logistic regression model identified five indicators that increased odds of shelter entry among 9630 Homebase family clients from 2016 to 2019 (12 % entered shelters): having a child less than two years old; discord with one's landlords; being in an institution, or shelter, recently; and having been in a shelter as an adult; or as a child. This study also identified combinations of client risks, using Latent Class Analysis. Two groups most likely to enter shelters (7.5 % of the sample) also had the highest rates of experiences in institutions or shelters and moving frequently, with one of these registering the highest rate of childhood trauma. This study recommends implementing a state program that covers childcare costs for vulnerable families, which could address risks that children of single mothers face to future instability.

"I Have to Make Sure She Is Not Sad": Children's Perceptions of Their Mothers' Experiences in Shelters for Battered Women.

A qualitative study examined children's subjective perception of their mother's situation during their stay in shelters for battered women (SBW). Thirty-two children, aged 7-12 years, who were staying with their mothers in SBWs participated in this study. Thematic analysis revealed the following two core themes: children's perceptions and insights, and feelings that were related to their perceptions. The findings are discussed in light of the concepts of exposure to IPV as a lived trauma, and re-exposure to violence in new contexts, and the role of the relationship with the abused mother in shaping the child's well-being.

Comunicação e cidadania de refugiados venezuelanos em abrigos na fronteira Brasil-Venezuela

Abstract This article analyzes Venezuelan refugees’ communication and citizenship experiences in shelters of Operação Acolhida on the Brazil-Venezuela border. Based on the theoretical framework of communication, citizenship and migrations, we reflect on the agency of Venezuelan refugees to bypass the limitations of access to communication resources in the context of the tensions between control and mobility of migrants in border areas. The methodology includes observation and interviews with refugees and professionals that work in those shelters. The results indicate the relevance of the debate on communication as a right of migrants in relation to the access and distribution of communication resources.

Welfare worries: a preliminary, cross-sectional study of general practice, small animal veterinarians perceptions and management of canine and feline behaviour problems.

Behavioural disease is one of the leading reasons for euthanasia in shelter dogs and cats. Information acquired via a survey of veterinarians (n=59) was used to understand the way canine and feline behaviour problems are viewed and managed by nonshelter, small animal general practice veterinarians. Participants (20%, n=12) felt that the following diseases were more of a welfare issue than behaviour problems: food sensitivity, osteoarthritis, puppy/kitten farms, skin disease, nutritional disease, parasitic disease, dental disease, obesity, in-breeding, over-population, neoplasia, greyhound racing, hyperthyroidism and renal disease. Behaviour problems in dogs and cats were not ranked in the top four welfare problems by 40% (n=23) of respondents. Behaviour case follow-up was poorer than physical health case follow-up. Respondents (20%, n=12) felt that veterinarians should 'possibly' be able to identify behaviour problems in dogs and cats, and 54% (n=32) felt that this was 'absolutely' their professional responsibility. Twelve percent (n=7) would reschedule behaviour appointments that had been booked in for them. Behaviour was more likely to be seen as a welfare issue by more experienced veterinarians and also, those with shelter experience. Half of respondents felt reluctant to discuss behaviour problems with clients because of deficiencies in behaviour knowledge. Eighty percent (n=47) felt their education equipped them poorly or extremely poorly in dealing with behaviour problems in dogs and cats. Consideration should be given for the inclusion of adequate behavioural medicine content in veterinary medicine curriculum to allow for graduates to possess a basic level of training and competency in this discipline.

The Impact of the Shelter Experience of Children of Domestic Violence Victims on Their Lives at the Time and after Leaving Shelters

The Impact of the Shelter Experience of Children of Domestic Violence Victims on Their Lives at the Time and after Leaving Shelters

‘My home is my people’ homemaking among rough sleepers in Leipzig, Germany

By combining an analysis of the unhoused response with an ethnographic study of the lived experiences of unhoused people in Leipzig, Germany, this article offers insights into how rough sleepers understand home. The focus is on men and women who exited unhoused shelters and returned to the streets; on their experiences in shelters and their practices of homemaking on the streets. Whereas legal and policy frameworks often equate home with house, unhoused people locate home in relationships, affects, routines and in time. In Leipzig shared shelters that are separated by sex are used to move as many people off the streets as possible. But to unhoused people home is first and foremost their relationships. Policy and practice misunderstand that unhoused people exit shelters because they cannot live intimate, personal and family life there, not because they refuse assistance. To be effective, services must overcome the dissonance between their perceptions of home (infrastructural, spatial) and those of their target groups (social).

A Dopamine-Gated Nucleus Accumbens Circuit for Cognitive Map Reification

Animals navigate environment based on cognitive map built upon spatial cues and desired outcomes. However, how the goal representation stems from spatial information and outcomes, and its causal role in action control, remain elusive. Here we show that ‘where-to-escape’ relies on the cognitive map formulated by shelter experience. Dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) exhibit valence encodings and the phasic burst stimulations of VTADA neurons sufficiently generate latent goal memory. Converging DA and excitatory inputs from VTA and hippocampus (HPC), respectively, onto the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is required for goal memory formation, integrating spatial value with the place. Tracking cellular dynamics of NAc neurons reveals emerging ensembles representing shelter positions. Targeting functionally-selective neuronal ensemble guides movements towards the goal location, regardless of the animal’s position. Thus, our findings reveal a neural basis of goal memory-to-action instantiation, demonstrating the feasibility of cognitive action tracing in space and time.

Determinants of Salary for Veterinarians Employed in the Field of Shelter Medicine in the United States

Despite recent growth in the field of shelter medicine, there is a paucity of wage data available. Understanding determinants of salary is helpful for new graduates deciding on a career path as well as employees and employers with regard to budgeting, professional development, and negotiations. An anonymous online survey was distributed via commercial survey platform to shelter veterinarians. Salary was analyzed using multiple linear regression, Kruskall-Wallis equality-of-populations rank-test, and Conover-Iman pairwise comparison. Of the 219 unique respondents, 197 worked as shelter veterinarians, with 157 full-time and 40 part-time. Fifteen respondents worked in academia, and 7 respondents worked in shelter leadership. Full-time shelter veterinarians had a median income of $92,000 [$78,000-110,000], which is the same as the median salary reported for all veterinarians by the AVMA in 2018. Salary depended on years of shelter experience (P = .004), supervision of other veterinarians (P = .015), region (Southwest, P = .010, Mideast, P = .010, and Far West, P = .002) and size of the metropolitan area (>1 million, P = .001 and <250,000, P = .011). Part-time veterinarians had a median income of $60,000 [$44,000-84,000]. The only variable predictive of salary was hours worked, with part-time veterinarians paid a median of $48 [36-66] per hour. Academic veterinarians had a median income of $108,000 [90,000-120,000]. For academics, title (assistant professor, P <.0001 and professor, P = .001), PhD (P = .010), and master's (P= .001) predicted salary. Veterinarians working in leadership positions had a median income of $120,000 [110,000-198,000], and no variable was significant. Veterinarians employed in academia and leadership had a higher salary than veterinarians employed in the shelter. There are predictors of salary for shelter medicine veterinarians, which will help both potential employers and employees, determine reasonable salaries when budgeting, negotiating, or planning personal development.

Os significados de uma Unidade de Acolhimento transitória para usuários de drogas

Objetivo: este estudo teve como objetivo compreender os significados da experiência do acolhimento residencial transitório, em uma Unidade de Acolhimento, da perspectiva dos usuários. Método: para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa utilizando-se da etnografia como estratégia metodológica. O procedimento de coleta de dados envolveu a observação participante com o total de doze usuários eentrevistas abertas com sete destes. A análise foi feita por meio da triangulação dos dados e, para a apresentação, utilizou-se da História Natural da Pesquisa. Resultados: os resultados apontaram que a unidade representa um local de vínculo, com possibilidade do cuidado de si e em liberdade, além da possibilidade da redução do uso de drogas. Conclusão: concluiu-se que se trata de um espaço potenteque pode ser utilizado tanto para a saída efetiva quanto apenas temporária das ruas.

Disaster relief shelter experience during Hurricane Sandy: A preliminary phenomenological inquiry

There is limited research on the psychological experience of residing in a disaster relief shelter during a natural disaster, especially during Hurricane Sandy. To better understand and improve occupants' and staff members' experiences in disaster relief shelters, preliminary phenomenological research was conducted on the shelter experience. Three former staff members at a disaster relief shelter during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 were interviewed on their experience working in a disaster relief shelter, their perception of shelter occupants' psychological challenges, the beneficial aspects of the shelter, and their recommendations to improve future shelters. Participants discussed their perception of shelter occupants’ intensified feelings of anxiety, depression, and frustration while in the shelter. Participants discussed their view of occupants feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated. Participants reported occupants and staff experiencing additional health complications in the shelter. While beneficial aspects of the shelter were reported, participants highlighted the importance of future shelters having a wider range of medical resources, more therapeutic services for adolescents, enhanced procedures to transition occupants out of shelters, and stronger psychological support for staff.

Reclaiming “good motherhood”: US mothers’ critical resistance in family homeless shelters

Unhoused mothers not only contend with housing precarity and economic hardship but also intersecting classist, racist, and sexist stereotypes that position them as unfit mothers. Classed, raced, and gendered conceptualizations of “good” and “bad” motherhood are reified in US shelter regulations (e.g. strict rules governing parent and child behavior, curfews, mandatory participation in parenting classes) that seek to “reform” homeless mothers. To gain a better understanding of perceptions of and responses to shelter regulations, we interviewed 28 formerly unhoused US mothers about their experiences in family shelters. Participants overwhelmingly rejected “bad mother” stereotypes that equated lack of material resources with inadequate parenting and engaged in a range of overt (e.g. strategic recounting of life histories) and covert (e.g. subverting paternalistic rules) strategies to reclaim “good motherhood” and negotiate daily shelter life. Instrumental, discursive, covert, and overt critical resistance strategies were used to maintain parental authority, preserve one’s self-image as a “good” mother and obtain needed resources from shelter staff. Our findings highlight the complexity of critical resistance to class, race, and gender oppression and call for greater interrogation of how seemingly well-intentioned shelter rules and policies reinforce status hierarchies.

A systematic approach to smoking cessation activities in Danish shelters

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Shelter users have an alarmingly high smoking prevalence; our aim was to develop systematic smoking cessation activities in the shelters. Method: All available (n = 13) shelters in Copenhagen were included. This Participatory Action Research had a development/test period and an implementation period for the revised intervention. Shelter-staff completed a questionnaire at baseline. Municipal smoking cessation counselors were trained to work with shelter users. Three types of on-site smoking cessation activities were developed and offered. Results: The estimated mean smoking prevalence in shelter users was 79%. Only two shelters ran smoking cessation activities prior to study start. All but one of the shelters implemented group-based intervention activities and approximately 13% of smokers signed-up; 26.6% of those who attended the first session were abstinent after approximately 12 weeks, as confirmed by staff. Conclusion: Smoking cessation activities in shelters are wanted by staff and shelter users, they are feasible and even very vulnerable persons are able to quit. Based on our experiences in Copenhagen shelters, we propose a systematic approach for future smoking cessation initiatives: smoking activities should be driven by the municipality, be pro-active, on-site, tailored and flexible, in addition, free nicotine therapy should be offered and trained smoking cessation counselors should be available.

Effects of Prior Experience on Shelter-Seeking Behavior of Juvenile American Lobsters.

Shelter-seeking behaviors are vital for survival for a range of juvenile benthic organisms. These behaviors may be innate or they may be affected by prior experience. After hatching, American lobsters Homarus americanus likely first come into contact with shelter during the late postlarval (decapodid) stage, known as stage IV. After the subsequent molt to the first juvenile stage (stage V), they are entirely benthic and are thought to be highly cryptic. We hypothesized that postlarval (stage IV) experience with shelter would carry over into the first juvenile stage (stage V) and reduce the time needed for juveniles to locate and enter shelters (sheltering). We found some evidence of a carryover effect, but not the one we predicted: stage V juveniles with postlarval shelter experience took significantly longer to initiate sheltering. We also hypothesized that stage V juveniles would demonstrate learning by relocating shelters more quickly with immediate prior experience. Our findings were mixed. In a maze, juveniles with immediate prior experience were faster to regain visual contact with shelter, suggesting that they had learned the location of the shelter. In contrast, there was no significant effect of immediate prior experience on time to initiate sheltering in an open arena, or in the maze after juveniles had regained visual contact. We conclude that very young (stage V) juvenile lobsters modify their shelter-seeking behavior based on prior experiences across several timescales. Ecologically relevant variation in habitat exposure among postlarval and early juvenile lobsters may influence successful recruitment in this culturally and commercially important fishery species.

Owner-reported personality assessments are associated with breed groups but not with oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris)

Variation in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene has been linked to dog social behavior in some studies, whereas others have failed to replicate this relationship (in dogs and other species). Ratings of observed behavior are often used to assess personality; however, owner-based behavior and personality assessments have been shown to be comparably consistent. The relationship between OXTR gene variation and behavior as measured by owner-based personality questionnaires has yet to be explored in dogs. The aims of our present study were 3-fold: (1) to investigate the relationship between 2 OXTR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs8679684 and 19131AG) and 3 owner-based behavior and personality measures in dogs (the Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire-Revised, a history of aggression questionnaire, and an eagerness to please scale), (2) to explore the relationships of personality assessments and OXTR polymorphisms with genetic breed clusters, purebred versus mixed breed status, and how the dog was acquired (shelter vs. other means), and (3) to examine the relationships among the 3 owner-based assessments. We found no relationship between any of the 3 personality measures and genotype at either SNP. This may be because of the relationships between OXTR gene SNPs and behaviors being breed specific, in which case our genetically varied sample would not detect them. In line with kennel club breed descriptions and prior research, herding breeds scored higher in eagerness to please than scent hound breeds, and scent hounds' training focus scores were lower than those of both herding and working breeds. Purebred and mixed breed dogs did not score differently in any of the 3 personality assessments, and dogs adopted from shelters were rated lower in extraversion and eagerness to please than those acquired by other means, suggesting that early shelter experience may affect adult behavior. Dogs with no history of aggression toward household members, unfamiliar children, unfamiliar men and women, and unfamiliar dogs scored higher in amicability, and eagerness to please scores were positively correlated with training focus and amicability. These personality measures appear to evaluate different facets of the same personality concepts. Future research on OXTR gene variation in dogs should be mindful of the possibly limited implications of behavioral assessments that are context specific.

"Nursing Students Assaulted": Considering Student Safety in Community-Focused Experiences.

Community nursing experiences for undergraduate students have progressed beyond community-based home visits to a wide array of community-focused experiences in neighborhood-based centers, clinics, shelters, and schools. Our Bachelor of Science in Nursing program chose to use sites situated within neighborhoods close to campus in order to promote student and faculty engagement in the local community. These neighborhood sites provide opportunities for students to deliver nursing services to underserved and vulnerable populations experiencing poverty and health disparities. Some of these neighborhoods are designated as high crime areas that may potentially increase the risk of harm to students and faculty. There is a need to acknowledge the risk to personal safety and to proactively create policies and guidelines to reduce potential harm to students engaged in community-focused experiences. When a group of baccalaureate nursing students was assaulted while walking to a neighborhood clinic, the faculty was challenged as how to respond given the lack of policies and guidelines. Through our experience, we share strategies to promote personal safety for students and recommend transparency by administrators regarding potential safety risks to students engaged in community-focused fieldwork activities.

Possessions in the Homeless Shelter Experience: The Built Environment's Potential Role in Self-restoration

ABSTRACTThis paper proposes that designing homeless shelters to acknowledge residents' important relationships with their possessions can assist homeless persons' psychological recovery and reengagement with society. This notion is based on consumer culture research establishing the significance of possessions in personal growth and evolution. Researchers have identified the “opportunity restriction process”–a pattern of possession loss, despair, and self-restoration–that often afflicts impoverished people in the US. The paper is based on the results of a quasi-experimental study by the author (funded by Florida State University's Council on Research and Creativity) of homeless families living in a shelter in the southeast United States and their reactions to their bedroom environments (Pable 2010). Recommendations for shelter design that embrace the importance of residents' possessions are included.

Technical Indexes for Planning of Disaster-Mitigation Emergency Congregate Shelter in Villages and Small Towns

Compared with cities in China, emergency evacuation and rescue in villages and towns are more difficult, and the technical indexes for planning of urban emergency shelters cannot be copied. Through studied experiences in emergency shelters planning and construction from home and abroad, and combining China’s conditions, this paper proposes types, functions, sizes and scope of service of disaster-mitigation emergency congregate shelter in villages and small towns in China, as well as arrangements of emergency facilities and requirements for planning.

Impact of the Economic Recession on Companion Animal Relinquishment, Adoption, and Euthanasia: A Chicago Animal Shelter's Experience

This study investigated how the current economic recession (since December 2007) has affected dog and cat relinquishment, adoption, and euthanasia at the Anti-Cruelty Society animal shelter in Chicago, Illinois. The study compared temporal patterns of the investigated statistics before (2000–2007) the start of the current recession with the patterns after the start of the recession (2008–2010). The results showed that once the guardianship (ownership) of a nonhuman animal had been established, the recession did not greatly affect the owner's decision on relinquishment—except for the relinquishment of senior dogs, which may be associated with increased costs of care. However, an unfavorable economic environment may have reduced adoption of animals. The consequences of a decline in adoptions might be reflected in an increase in the proportion or number of sheltered animals euthanized. This study demonstrated how monitoring changes in temporal patterns in these shelter statistics can help guide animal shelters to better prepare for the current recession.