The data captured through In-Form has the potential to contribute to research that will help us better understand what works to help people experiencing homelessness, and be integral to the evidence we need to influence change with national government.
Sophie Boobis and Cate Standing-Tattersall from the Homeless Link Research Team tell us about a new groundbreaking research project and how you can be part of it.
Homeless Link, in partnership with UCL, Salford University, Expert Focus and UKHSA, are undertaking a ground-breaking health research project that aims to link In-Form data with health data to provide the evidence needed to convince DHSC, Treasury, local NHS Trusts, and wider health services, that they must play their role in funding and supporting services for people experiencing homelessness.
People experiencing homelessness and those working in frontline services are all too aware of how all forms of homelessness can impact on health, how ill health (both physical and mental) can drive people into homelessness, and how different types of support can make a big difference to health outcomes. But we are lacking the hard evidence that convinces policy makers, healthcare services, and national government to take this seriously and invest in the resources needed.
While there are focussed studies on health and homelessness, homelessness mortality data, and insights from health inclusion services, we don’t have a holistic overview of how different forms of homelessness impact on health, and the role that homelessness services play. If we could evidence how different types of services help different individuals we would be able to make an argument that was impossible to ignore.
This is the aim of the HOME study, or Housing Model Evaluation. Through linking homelessness data from In-Form with health data we will gain a depth of insight that we’ve never had before, on how different experiences of homelessness, and different accommodation models, impact on the health of people experiencing homelessness.
But we can’t do this without your help.
In-Form is one of our best data sources to help us better understand the profile of people experiencing homelessness, their experiences with different services, and the outcomes that are achieved.
The aim of the project is to use data collected on In-form by homeless accommodation services and link this to national health databases (e.g. hospital episodes and death records). Because In-Form is captured by different accommodation and service types it will help us understand how health outcomes change depending on who is in what housing setting, how different models help to improve health outcomes, the impact of people not being able to access suitable housing options and more.
Because this study requires access to individual level and unanonymised data, the data protection considerations are extremely rigorous. The value of this project in helping us understand health inequalities, inform public health considerations, and improve health outcomes means there’s a legal basis to use In-Form data under both UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act. We will also be providing multiple ways for service users to opt-out of the study if they wish for their data not to be included.
Despite this we know that asking you to give permission to share In-Form data of the people you support is huge and you will rightly have lots of questions about data protection and the legal rights to share data. So how can you find out more details about the project, or ask any questions you might have? You can find out more about the project by attending one of our monthly In-Form webinars or by getting in touch with Sophie or Cate. You can also read the FAQs which provide more detailed information on the project and what involvement would look like for your organisation.
In-Form users and the data you collect are critical to the success of this project. The data sitting across all In-Form users has the potential to change our understanding of homelessness health and what’s needed. We hope you and your organisation will be part of this pioneering project to influence system change at the national level and shape and drive change for people experiencing homelessness.
