Housing not enough to help homeless; healing their hurts is crucial too
Unresolved traumas make a mockery of efforts to tackle homelessness, says recent study; society can't help those in need without addressing well-being
FORGET about solving homelessness, it's just not going to happen; unless you're prepared to acknowledge and address the traumas many homeless people have suffered.
So says a recent report, Tackling Trauma, Ending Homelessness, commissioned by charity Oasis Community Housing, and based on research by academics at Northumbria University.
Trauma is evidently an 'elephant in the room' when it comes to tackling the growing problem of homelessness.
The dearth of secure and genuinely affordable housing options is undoubtedly another, especially as England's housing crisis has deepened over the years. But that is often not enough in and of itself. The report makes that clear.
“The impact of trauma has been an increasingly important theme in homelessness research in recent years,” said the university's Dr Adele Irving, one of the experts responsible for the research. “[T]here is a growing realisation that – for the majority of people for whom homelessness is a longer-term issue – trauma is always there in the background of their lives, whether that is from childhood, adolescence, as an adult, or throughout their whole lives.”
In compiling the report, Irving and her Northumbria research colleague Dr Jamie Harding analysed the results of a survey carried out among over 100 Oasis residents. They also examined data collected through the nationwide Fulfilling lives: Supporting people experiencing multiple disadvantage programme.
They concluded that a single incident of trauma can have a “profound effect” on the well-being of an individual, but multiple events or ‘complex trauma’ are “highly likely” to pervade every aspect of a person’s being. It is this complex trauma that is identified as a defining factor for people who fall into homelessness.
According to the report, 94% of people facing homelessness who were surveyed have experienced one or more traumas that have left them unable to access the help they need. Furthermore, half of people facing homelessness have experienced at least five or more traumas, such as sexual or domestic abuse, violence, family death, or war.
The researchers found that each trauma increased the risk of mental ill-health, lack of self-care, substance misuse, the inability to concentrate or learn, and homelessness. The effects of these traumas, when unaddressed, also impact people’s capacity to access or properly manage tenancies. All told, it creates a vicious cycle of homelessness.
“It is futile to try to solve the issue of homelessness without addressing the trauma people have suffered,” said David Smith, Oasis' chief executive. “Frontline staff working in homelessness services must have trauma-informed training to offer appropriate support, as well as helping to protect themselves from vicarious trauma.”
The plight of those surveyed – and those like them in wider society – isn't without hope, however. The research provides evidence that specialist mental health and “timely” trauma-informed support offers a real chance to end cycles of homelessness.
Yet, almost half of people surveyed had not been able to access such specialist help for their trauma and some reported only being “taken seriously” after reaching a crisis point.
The report concludes that establishing trauma-informed care as best practice across the homelessness and related sectors would likely drive real change in the lives for those experiencing a lack of a home. Such a move would also provide “significant” broader social and economic benefits.
“One important finding which came out of the research is the value of a trauma-informed approach to service delivery which is mindful of the traumatic experiences someone has gone through,” Irving added.
“This isn’t about creating new services. There are already housing, mental health, and substance misuse services available. However, we need to ask why some individuals are unable to access or engage with those services, and why some are returning to those services again and again.
“But a trauma informed approach may be key to making it easier for those who need support to access those services.”
Smith said: “A national trauma-informed training programme, delivered by Government, would save lives as well as taxpayers’ pounds. We saw a concerted effort to put a roof over every rough sleepers’ head during the pandemic, but only by recognising and committing to tackle the trauma that is deep-rooted within our homeless population can we even begin to hope to end entrenched homelessness in this country.”
MC