RESUMO
No published studies have examined the community service priorities and harm reduction perspectives of unhoused people in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We conducted a mixed methods pilot study of 56 unhoused people at community locations in Santa Fe to: (1) assess the current prevalence of chronic medical conditions and substance use; (2) highlight community service priorities; and (3) explore views of innovative community harm reduction programs. Our first hypothesis was there would be high prevalence of chronic medical conditions, for which we found high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, substance use disorders, chronic pain, and hypertension. Our second hypothesis was that we would find top community service priorities of housing, food, and health care. We found long- and short-term housing and food, but not healthcare, top priorities. Our third hypothesis was that we would find mixed support for community harm reduction initiatives like managed alcohol programs and overdose prevention centers. We found positive, not mixed, support for these community harm reduction programs among Santa Fe's unhoused. Unhoused study participants ranged in age 27-77 years, with lifetime years unhoused from less than one year to 63 years. Study limitations included small sample size, convenience sampling, and descriptive results. Policies and program initiatives supporting additional Housing First options, managed alcohol programs, and overdose prevention centers in the Santa Fe community are clearly indicated to increase engagement with this vulnerable population. Future research should focus on inclusion of the perspectives of the unhoused in the design, conduct, evaluation, and dissemination of community programs to meet the needs of the unhoused, with re-defined outcomes to include changes in quality of life, program engagement, demarginalization, and future goals and plans, beyond currently utilized health and social service program outcome measures.
Assuntos
Redução do Dano , Nível de Saúde , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias , Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Adulto , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/epidemiologia , New Mexico/epidemiologia , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Projetos Piloto , Serviços de Saúde Comunitária , Doença Crônica/prevenção & controle , IdosoRESUMO
Resumo A heterogeneidade e vulnerabilidade da população em situação de rua revelam a complexidade de viver nessa condição e exige que o Estado tenha papel fundamental na oferta de políticas de saúde e assistência social. O objetivo do estudo, a partir de uma revisão integrativa da literatura, foi avaliar a intersetorialidade entre políticas de saúde, proteção social e ações da sociedade civil organizada para a população em situação de rua no Brasil. Foi realizada uma busca nas bases SciELO, Lilacs e PubMed, sendo selecionados dez artigos, publicados entre 2004-2021, todos de caráter qualitativo. Observou-se indícios da intersetorialidade entre as políticas para a população em situação de rua, descritas principalmente como uma ponte de acesso entre os serviços ofertados. Entretanto, as intervenções ainda são pouco exploradas e sistematizadas. Nesse sentido, recomenda-se que estudos de impacto voltados à avaliação de políticas públicas intersetoriais sejam desenvolvidos para que se permita a avaliação da efetividade da intersetorialidade entre os serviços de saúde, assistência social e sociedade civil organizada na qualidade de vida da população em situação de rua.
Abstract The heterogeneous and vulnerable nature of the unhoused population reveal the complexity of living on the street and call for the State to play a fundamental role in the provision of health and social care policies. The scope of this study was to evaluate the intersectorality between health policies, social protection and organized civil society actions for the unhoused population in Brazil, based on an integrative literature review. To achieve this, a search was conducted in the SciELO, LILACS and PubMed databases, from which ten articles published between 2004-2021, all of a qualitative nature, were selected. From the analysis of the chosen articles, the evidence of intersectorality between the policies for the unhoused population was observed, mainly described as a point of intersection between the services offered. However, interventions are still poorly explored and systematized. It is recommended that quantitative studies aimed at the evaluation of intersectoral public policies be developed to allow the assessment of the impact of intersectorality between health services, social assistance and organized civil society on the quality of life of the unhoused population.