Prioritizing patient perspectives when designing intervention studies for homeless older adults
Canham, S.L., Bosma, H., Palepu, A., Small, S., & Danielsen, C. (2021). Prioritizing patient perspectives when designing intervention studies for homeless older adults. Research on Social Work Practice, 3(6), 610-620. doi:
Purpose:
Medical respite provides postacute care to people experiencing homelessness upon hospital discharge if they are too sick to recover on the streets or in a traditional shelter. The current study examined the feasibility of conducting a study to test the effectiveness of a medical respite intervention for older people experiencing homelessness.
Methods:
Fifteen patient and 11 provider participants were interviewed between July and November 2018.
Results:
Participants鈥� considerations for how to design a program of research included (1) desired qualities of researchers; (2) preferences for study design; (3) mechanisms for participant recruitment and retention; (4) what, where, and how to collect data; and (5) barriers and motivations to participation.
Conclusions:
Findings from this study build on an emerging research base on how to appropriately engage vulnerable patient groups, including older people experiencing homelessness, in trauma-informed research by including peer researchers on research teams to serve as advisors throughout the research process