Social Responses to Stigma
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Social Responses to Stigma: Responding to homelessness, multiple exclusion and stigma through developing a complex public health intervention approach
IRAS ID
312858
Contact name
Andrew Guise
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
n/a, n/a
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 7 months, 30 days
Research summary
The study will explore experiences of stigma and discrimination amongst people who are homeless in south London, and then seek to understand how this stigma is created, enacted, or prevented and mitigated within particular health and care systems.
The research is a response to the widely reported stigma experienced by people who are homeless. Stigma is increasingly understood to be the product of care systems and social processes, as well as being managed or mitigated within these same systems. However, how stigma is experienced, produced and managed within particular systems and social contexts is under theorised. The absence of such theory limits the development of public health responses.
The research is an ethnographic case study of the south London care and support system. Ethnographic study aims to understand social processes through close engagement, over-time, with experiences of participants, with immersion by the researchers in particular settings. The study will use a range of methods for data collection: interviews with people who are homeless, delivery stakeholders, and policy makers; observation within selected care sites; gathering of documentary sources.
The study will be implemented from 2025 until 2028 The study forms part of a programme of work funded through a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.
The overall study will be implemented through two parallel studies. The first, with KCL-REMAS approval, will operate in non-NHS sites. The second – this protocol - with NHS-IRAS approval, will operate in NHS sites. This approach was developed under KCL research governance team advice.
The results of the study will lead to new complex interventions to address the social dimensions of stigma. Subject to additional funding applications, the intervention strategy will be piloted and evaluated from 2026 onwards.
The study results will be disseminated through scientific publications, public reports and a range of public and policy engagement activities.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/LO/0629
Date of REC Opinion
16 Dec 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion