You Are Not Alone: The (In)Visible Homeless and the Role of Social Workers and Related Professionals

Abstract

The scientific literature has already shown that health information is a factor that contributes to reduce health disparities, improving the situation of vulnerable groups, such as homeless people. However, less is known about the ways that health information has been spread by social workers and related professionals to homeless people in the first moments of the COVID-19 pandemic. This work analyses some social work actions related to health information addressed to homeless people and to identify its impact during the lockdown in Barcelona. This qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews with social workers and related professionals involved in developing interventions related to health information with homeless people in Barcelona. The data analysis is based on the communicative methodology to identify exclusionary and transformative dimensions. The results show the improvement in the health information of homeless people during the pandemic through the design and development of actions facilitated and promoted by some social workers and related professionals. The findings demonstrate the role that some social workers and related professionals have played in the improvement of health information of homeless people during the lockdown in Barcelona.

Assisting Homeless Women in a City in Brazil during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Context of a Street Outreach Office: The Perceptions of Health Professionals

“…While the general population with resources can migrate their activities to the remote and online mode, the activities with the street population cannot happen this way [25]. Given the lack of resources, the deprivation of this population's access to reliable and trustworthy information is also evident, generating insecurities and difficulty in adhering to protocols correctly [32]. In this sense, the teams assume a vital role of informing while caring, distributing the safety equipment while using them correctly to set an example and foster the incentive to use [32], even in such a precarious situation as it is on the streets.…”

“…Given the lack of resources, the deprivation of this population's access to reliable and trustworthy information is also evident, generating insecurities and difficulty in adhering to protocols correctly [32]. In this sense, the teams assume a vital role of informing while caring, distributing the safety equipment while using them correctly to set an example and foster the incentive to use [32], even in such a precarious situation as it is on the streets. In Denmark, in the first moment of the pandemic, health providers even took on the work of translating the official guidelines so that immigrants who did not speak the language could have access to information [31].…”