Peer Support for Homelessness in the Emergency Department

Summary

Peer support workers with lived experience of homelessness will provide advocacy, supportive counselling, assistance with navigating the system, and role-modeling for people experiencing homelessness in emergency departments in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada. Previous research has demonstrated that people experiencing homelessness experience barriers to care and poor health outcomes, including increased risk of dying, and are frequent users of the emergency department for physical and mental health needs. The benefits of peer support have been studied in hospital psychiatric units and with people experiencing homelessness, but no studies have yet explored the potential impact of peer support workers on homelessness in the emergency department. The investigators plan to do a 12-month randomized study of peer support workers compared to usual care in the emergency department, and evaluate outcomes such as physical health, mental health, addictions, and behaviours, as well as cost-effectiveness and changes in how people experiencing homelessness seek health care. The investigators hope that the findings of this study will provide additional knowledge and evidence for future efforts to improve care for people experiencing homelessness.

Conditions

• Homelessness
• Health Behavior
• Health Care Utilization
• Health Care Seeking Behavior

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Peer Support

Participants randomized to the intervention group will be seen by the peer support worker during their stay in the emergency department. The goal of the peer support worker's practice is to address the participant's wellness from a holistic point of view that includes their relationships, connections to the community, general well-being, and sense of empowerment, with an overall focus on quality-of-life goals (Sunderland et al., 2013). The peer support worker will provide a multi-faceted intervention, which aims to foster a peer-to-peer relationship encompassing elements of empathic communication, brief supportive counseling, advocacy for non-medical needs in hospital, liaising and collaborating with medical and nursing staff, motivational interviewing, and connection with programs in the community.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Niagara Community Foundation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• United Way Niagara

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Niagara Poverty Reduction Network

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Quest Community Health Centre

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• McMaster University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Suneel Upadhye, MD · McMaster University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-01-01

Primary Completion

2020-03-19

Completion

2020-03-19

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations