‘No‐one has listened to anything I’ve got to say before’: Co‐design with people who are sleeping rough
Background Despite policies and programmes aimed at housing people who are homeless, there are still people who live and sleep rough. This project used the skills and knowledge of people in this situation to identify a strategy to mitigate some of the risks. Objective To describe the development and...
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Published in | Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 930 - 939 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
01.06.2021
John Wiley and Sons Inc Wiley |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background
Despite policies and programmes aimed at housing people who are homeless, there are still people who live and sleep rough. This project used the skills and knowledge of people in this situation to identify a strategy to mitigate some of the risks.
Objective
To describe the development and conduct of a co‐design project involving people who are homeless.
Setting/Group Members
A Working Group of 11 was formed following a careful recruitment process from people who had volunteered after consultation by the project team. The co‐design approach was guided by a set of principles.
Methods
Eight members of the Working Group were interviewed by an external researcher (RM). The approach was primarily deductive, with the principles adopted by the project team used as a framework for data collection and analysis. The co‐design process was captured by the project leaders (BK, PC) supplemented with documentation review and team discussions.
Results
The group met weekly for 12 weeks, with 8‐10 members present on average. They reviewed information from the survey, contributed ideas for solutions and ultimately decided to provide information via print, a website and an event. Important factors in on‐going involvement were carefully selecting group members and making participation rewarding for them.
Discussion/Conclusions
Vulnerable people such as those experiencing homelessness can be excluded from decision‐making processes affecting them, as they can be perceived as hard to reach and unable to make a meaningful contribution. This project demonstrated that a carefully managed project, with sufficient resources and commitment, it was possible to involve people who are homeless and maintain involvement over an extended time period.
Public Contribution
The Working Group reviewed survey findings and developed an intervention to minimize the health, social and legal harms of sleeping rough. Several members reviewe this paper. |
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Bibliography: | Funding information The project was funded by Pathways to Innovation—City of Melbourne, a Community Fund Account of Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation. No external funding was received to conduct the interviews ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1369-6513 1369-7625 |
DOI: | 10.1111/hex.13235 |