Re-conceptualising Approaches to Meeting the Health Needs of Homeless People

The experience of homelessness not only affects physical health, but can also constrain access to required health care. In a number of European countries, national strategies to tackle homelessness have sought to deliver integrated solutions across housing, health and other social policy areas. This article examines approaches to meeting the health care needs of homeless people in relation to such strategies, drawing upon recent research in Norway and Scotland. The article presents a comparative analysis of approaches to service provision in relation to welfare models and the concepts of universal and specialist provision. The analysis suggests a cross-national shift in the conceptualisation of appropriate responses to the health care needs of those who experience homelessness. The provision of some specialist health services, while reflecting a selective model of welfare, need not be solely interpreted as conflicting with a more universal model of ensuring access to mainstream services. Rather, the challenge is to recognise the need for a process approach which supports an effective transition from the (sometimes necessary) use of specialist services for this group, towards (the ideal of) full integration into mainstream health care. Introduction The post-2000 period has seen increasing social policy attention directed towards homelessness across and beyond the European Union (EU). Many countries, for example Australia, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, all four Nordic countries and the United Kingdom introduced national strategies or legislative frameworks which incorporated measurable targets to substantially reduce, or even eradicate homelessness within set timescales. International research has also indicated a consensus that homelessness is a multidimensional problem requiring comprehensive responses to meet the health and social support needs of homeless people, alongside the provision of adequate, affordable accommodation (Anderson et al., 2006; Busch-Geertsema et al., 2010). The health characteristics of homeless people have long been a focus for medical research but it is also important to examine health and homelessness from a social policy perspective as part of the evolution of comprehensive,