A UK survey on how homeless shelters respond to the mental health needs of homeless young people

Abstract

Young homeless people have mental health needs. Research and national policies have highlighted that accommodation providers need to offer holistic interventions to encourage this vulnerable group to break the cycle of homelessness. Currently no research literature documents how homeless shelters respond to mental health needs. This research was intended to address this research question.A postal questionnaire was sent to 132 managers of homeless shelters, achieving a response rate of 64.4%. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were calculated, and written data was analysed using content analysis. Mental health problems were highly prevalent, and homeless shelters responded in a variety of ways (use of GP services, internal services, referring to external services, in‐house outreach services, no service provision, etc). Only 27.1% of managers of homeless shelters reported that their services were sufficient to meet their young people's needs. These findings reflect the need for inclusion of mental health in homeless shelters' strategic objectives, and development of commissioning of local partnerships with health agencies.

Citation

Taylor, H., Stuttaford, M. and Vostanis, P. (2006), "A UK survey on how homeless shelters respond to the mental health needs of homeless young people", Housing, Care and Support, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 13-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/14608790200600011