A Citizen Science Approach to Identifying Indoor Environmental Barriers to Optimal Health for under 5s Experiencing Homelessness in Temporary Accommodation

Abstract

The first five years of life are critical for optimal growth, health, and cognitive development. Adverse childhood experiences, including experiencing homelessness, can be a risk factor for multiple health issues and developmental challenges. There is a dearth of data collected with and by families with children under age five living in temporary accommodation due to experiencing homelessness (U5TA) describing indoor environmental barriers that prevent U5TA from achieving and maintaining optimal health. The aim of this study was to address this current gap using a citizen science approach. Fifteen participants, who were mothers of U5TA living in a deprived area of London, and the lead researcher collected data in late 2019/early 2020 using: (I) a housing survey conducted via a mobile app; (II) house visits; and (III) collaborative meetings. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Key themes included: overcrowding/shared facilities, dampness/mold growth, poor/inadequate kitchen/toilet facilities, infestations/vermin, structural problems/disrepair, unsafe electrics, excessively cold temperatures, and unsafe surfaces that risk causing trips/falls, with all participants experiencing multiple concurrent indoor environmental barriers. The citizen science approach was successfully used to collect meaningful data demonstrating the need for child-centered housing policies meeting the needs of current and future generations of families living in TA.

How Does Living in Temporary Accommodation and the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact under 5s’ Healthcare Access and Health Outcomes? A Qualitative Study of Key Professionals in a Socially and Ethnically Diverse and Deprived Area of London

“…Both inductive and deductive coding were included, including theory-driven and data-driven codes [29,30]. An adapted socio-ecological model (SEM) [2,31] was used as a guiding theoretical framework.…”

“…Under 5s experiencing homelessness in temporary accommodation (U5TA) are particularly vulnerable to poor health outcomes and poor healthcare service access in comparison to the general population [1,2] due to their transient circumstances and lower visibility, unlike other groups experiencing homelessness, such as rough sleepers [3].…”

“…Previous mixed-methods studies have shown that U5TA experience numerous multilevel, interrelated barriers to accessing healthcare services and optimising health outcomes, even before the pandemic [2,14,15]. Few qualitative studies have been conducted to examine the professional perspective in the field of family homelessness pre-pandemic.…”

Exploring mental health services for youth experiencing homelessness in East Asia Pacific regions: A systematic scoping review.

“…For example, in Singapore, 'homelessness' is defined as "any person found begging in a public place in such a way as to cause or be likely to cause annoyance to persons frequenting the place or otherwise to create a nuisance", [32] whereas in South Korea, it is defined as "persons who have used/lived homeless facilities for a substantial period". [33] As highlighted by Rosenthal et al(2021), the varying definitions of homelessness can have significant implications for the provision of mental health services depending on how it is recognised within a given jurisdiction, [34] and therefore, could act as a barrier to accessing mental health services. There is a lack of government policies that mention mental health services for this population based on those definitions [25] implying that mental health services are not adequately addressed by the government.…”

Predictors and consequences of homelessness in whole-population observational studies that used administrative data: a systematic review

“…For instance, in the UK, a recent study found that 41 per cent of people experiencing homelessness reported a long-term physical health problem and 45 per cent had a diagnosed mental health problem, compared with 28 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, in the general population [10]. Determining accurate national estimates of homelessness prevalence and health and social characteristics among people experiencing homelessness is difficult for many reasons, including the mobility of the population and a lack of standardised collection of homelessness status in national administrative healthcare data systems [11][12][13][14][15]. A number of record linkage and administrative data research studies [16][17][18][19] have been conducted in this area.…”