Expanding the emergent literature on homelessness and the COVID-19 pandemic, this qualitative study presents a portrait of the homelessness sector in two Nova Scotian, Canadian communities: Halifax Regional Municipality and Cape Breton Regional Municipality. This research provides an understanding of the health and wellness of populations experiencing homelessness during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, the processes involved in supporting populations experiencing homelessness during the pandemic, and determining what has worked, what has not, and required changes. The data will inform relevant emergency crises and disaster relief responses for those experiencing homelessness and those who are marginalized, vulnerable, and living on the fringes of society. What follows are the core themes, and lessons learned, along with recommendations that capture the narratives from a group of individuals experiencing homelessness throughout the pandemic and those tasked with developing, supporting, innovating, and funding the disaster responses in two Nova Scotian communities.

This article explores the impact of neoliberalism and biomedicalism on social work mental health care practice through presenting the results of a Canadian provincial study which illustrates the experiences of social work service users, providers, and supervisors. While Canada has a universal health care program, the intensification of the free-market approach is evident in the shifts from public sector support to growing rationalization and marked cutbacks to the provision of social welfare services. The specific impact of neoliberal economic restraint on social justice in mental health services has pressured practitioners to adopt medicalized, short-term strategies, under efficiency-based models. The participants in this study reported significant co-occurring concerns with the state of mental health service delivery, and results suggest social work is increasingly co-opted by the conservative individualizing, pathologizing, and contextualizing dominant biomedical framework in the provision of mental health social services and lack of professional practice autonomy.

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