Improving Care for Homeless Young Adults: A Shelter Client and Health Service Provider Perspective

The purpose of this study was to determine if the healthcare needs of homeless young adults from the client, shelter staff, and shelter healthcare provider’s perspectives. Data was collected via focus group with homeless unaccompanied young adults (n=4), and an online survey with shelter staff and healthcare staff (n=8) of The Night Ministry (TNM) and Ignite Promise. The focus group was recorded, transcribed, and coded for themes. Inductive analysis revealed themes focused on improving the quality of services provided. Based on the findings, recommendations include assessing the needs of homeless unaccompanied young adults from their perspective utilizing larger sample sizes, across multiple institutions to develop a framework for understanding the nature of the services that are required by this population.

Keywords: homeless youth, mobile healthcare bus, healthcare needs, quality, and evidence-based recommendations