Deep End Living Lab: Inclusive and integrated health and social care for homeless populations
The Deep End Living Lab: Inclusive and integrated health and social care for homeless populations
The challenge
A safe, secure, and affordable home is essential for healthy ageing. Housing instability and homelessness leads to poor health from an earlier age, hospitalisations, greater chronic disease burden, and reduced life expectancy. 122,000 Australians are experiencing homelessness, including almost 20,000 older people (55 years or older).
Health services are well placed to identify people experiencing homelessness, and to link them with housing and other support services.
This project is delivering a novel evidence-based training and resource package for health professionals to better identify and support health and care for people experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
Our impact
- Developed an Australian-first systematic screening algorithm for early identification of housing instability in people accessing healthcare using NCHA’s large data.
- Gathered evidence of the systematic barriers hindering healthcare access for this priority population, and insights into how to overcome these barriers.
- Informed policy and practice recommendations through the RACGP position statement on homelessness and housing instability.
- Developed substantial partnerships with homelessness sector and primary care.
Project lead/s
Professor Liz Sturgiss led this project from 2022-2024. Nilakshi Gunatillaka (Monash University) is leading the intervention design phase supported by Professor Suzanne Nielsen (Monash University) and Professor Liz Sturgiss (now at Bond University, with an Adjunct appointment at Monash University). The project will end in 2025.
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Project resources & knowledge
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These images have been created by people with lived experience of homelessness and housing instability when asked “What was it like to access healthcare when you are homeless?" Visit the Deep End Photo Gallery
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Key project information
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For further information please contact Nilakshi Gunatillaka: nilakshi.gunatillaka@monash.edu