Evaluation of healthcare initiatives for homeless people in Bradford
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of three new funded initiatives for healthcare for homeless people in Bradford
IRAS ID
158502
Contact name
Karin V Lowson
Contact email
Research summary
Bradford has a significant homeless population, which is a disproportionate user of acute health care services. To address the health needs of this population, three new and integrated initiatives have been established, funded by the local Clinical Commissioning Groups and the Department of Health. These initiatives are being evaluated by York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) from the University of York. One of the initiatives is the Street Medicine Service (SMS), comprising medical, nursing and housing professionals. The services are delivered in a variety of locations, where homeless people access other facilities, such as a Day Shelter, and a Church Drop-In, and the Team are seeking to improve access through more flexibility of locations, and frequency of delivery. An important strand of the evaluation comprises the views of service users. Information about the views of users for two of the initiatives is being collected as their service needs are assessed. Collecting the views of the users of the SMS is more complex, as the users are more likely to be rough sleepers, with more chaotic lives who access healthcare infrequently or through A&E. It is also important that the service users feel comfortable about giving information to the research team. Therefore a small team of peer evaluators will be used, who will be trained to administer short and simple surveys. These can either be completed by the peer evaluator on behalf of the service user, or which can be completed directly by the service user themselves. The survey focuses on service users’ views of the services, the treatment received, the ease of access and availability of information, their frequency of use, and basic demographic information. The estimated time for completion of a survey is 10-15 minutes, although the service user may wish to talk for longer to a peer evaluator.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
14/WS/1019
Date of REC Opinion
30 Jun 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion