Better support for elderlies who experienced homelessness
The Erasmus+ „Better support for elderlies who experienced homelessness” cooperation partnership program gathers five organisations from four countries to share their experiences and learn from each other about approaches and working methods that can be used to improve the support for elderly service users who experienced homelessness.
The participant organisations are BMSZKI and From Street to Homes Association from Hungary, Groundswell from England, Focus Ireland from Ireland and Caritas Trieste from Italy. All these organisations provide social services for people experiencing homelessness. While Caritas Trieste, From Street to Homes and Focus Ireland provides housing services on the methodology of the Housing First approach, BMSZKI mainly operates conventional, institutional housing models. Groundswell does not provide housing but instead makes it its mission to build on the knowledge gained from those who experienced homelessness, to make their voice heard and run programs to increase health access and health awareness for homeless people.
The aim of the cooperation between the organisations is to exchange good practices and experiences, to use them in practical work, adapt them to local conditions and incorporate the information gained from the joint work into internal training programs. Because of the growing number of older people using homelessness services - among them are many who are unable to work and in many cases, they need support and care to uphold their independent lives - the partnership is committed to exploring approaches and methods that can help maintain and improve the quality of life, mental and physical well-being of the service users. Besides learning from each other we will seek to involve organisations with innovative practices in elderly care, whose methods can be taken into account in the design and implementation of services for homeless people.
The knowledge gained during the program will be used to improve our internal procedures, the skills of staff and the satisfaction of our service users.
Besides, we would like to raise awareness among managers and staff of other care providers, partner institutions and decision-makers in order for the needs of older people can be taken into account to a greater extent in the operation of services.
The cooperation will include experience exchange and learning event in each country between 2022-2023. The themes will focus on the following areas:
- The needs of elderly people who experienced homelessness as it is identified by service providers, support methods responding, as well as opportunities for cooperation at the local level.
- Working methods and experiences of mental health support for elderlies who experienced homelessness. Approaches and methods to support loss processing, bereavement, and life course reflection.
- Programmes and approaches related to the health needs of elderlies who experienced homelessness, to maintain and improve their health.
- Approaches to support access to services and support to address the challenges elderlies experiencing homelessness face in accessing long-term housing.