Phenomenological Study of the Problems Encountered By Homeless Individuals with Mental Health Issues in Accessing Health Services

[Jennifer Moyo]

[Name of the institution]

Table of contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION3

OUTLINE3

RATIONALE3

PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH5

POTENTIAL BENEFITS ARISING FROM THE STUDY5

CHAPTER 2: LITERTURE REVIEW7

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLGY10

RESEARCH DESIGN10

DATA COLLECTION10

Population and Sample size11

Pilot Study11

DATA ANALYSIS12

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS13

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS14

TIME SCALE14

REFERENCES17

APPENDIX20

Letter to the manager: Appendix A20

Letter to the participant: Appendix B21

PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET: APPENDIX C22

General Consent Form and the right to Withdraw: Appendix D24

Interview Schedule: Appendix E26

Permission Letter from the manager: Appendix F27

Phenomenological Study of the Problems Encountered By Homeless Individuals with Mental Health Issues in Accessing Health Services

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

OUTLINE

This research focuses on the various aspects of homeless individuals with mental health issues in accessing health services and comprises of the following chapters:

Introduction

Literature Review

Proposed Methodology

RATIONALE

This study highlights many issues related to the problems encountered by homeless individuals with mental health issues in accessing health services and gives a broad analysis of mental health issues. The United Kingdom's Department of Environment views homeless people as those who have failed to secure accommodation in England, Wales or Scotland of which these people can reasonably occupy together as members of the family, [11]. The government published in January 2005 a five year plan of housing, which highlights specific target of halving the number of homelessness by 2010, [3]. Shelter is one of the basic pre-requisites of health [22], hence lack of housing is a major contributory factor to ill health including mental illnesses and shortened lives. Housing and access to health services are pre requisites for everyone, if the needs of the population at large are to be met. Homelessness impacts on individuals' physical, emotional, and mental health. Naidoo and Wills, [19]state that the particular problems of homelessness, include respiratory illness, depression, high rates of infection among children, accidents, and difficulties in gaining access to health services. Folsom et al (2005) highlight that, “Mental ill homeless “represents one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged segments of the society” Homeless people face many barriers when seeking to gain employment; such barriers include a lack of child care, pregnancy, transportation, lack of permanent address, etc, [20]

There appears to be a small but steady growing body of research on homeless individuals and enduring mental health issues however, “evidence about their issues, needs and the services to meet these needs is scant and at times contradictory” (10). Research has shown that employment has dramatically fallen among homeless people further pushing them into the fringe of total poverty (5). The deputy minister's office argued that homeless people with enduring mental health problems encounter a great deal of inequalities in accessing health services while their health suffers because of living in squalid conditions, (12). Despite the lack of more rigorous research in homelessness and mental illness, there is however a body of descriptive materials in form of reports, articles and manuals thereby providing the base for knowledge in the new and developing area. The gap in health care delivery for homeless individuals with mental health issues seems to be widening ...