Homelessness remains a persistent, societal and human rights issue that affects over 250,000 Canadians. The challenges go beyond just finding a place to live – those who are homeless or vulnerably housed have higher incidences of chronic mental and physical health problems and often face stigma while navigating the healthcare system. On this episode, we heard from different voices at the intersection of homelessness and health. We started our conversation with Linda Bingham from Working for Change, who shared her lived experience with homelessness and addiction and how she has now found her voice to tell her story for the very first time. We also spoke to Daniela Mergarten, who told us about her struggles to find stable housing, her experiences with the healthcare system, and her advocacy work with the Lived Experience Caucus of the Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness. Dr. Alissa Tedesco, a physician in the Palliative Education and Care for the Homeless (PEACH) program and co-chair of Health Providers Against Poverty (HPAP) Ontario, told us about the work being done on the frontline to address the healthcare needs of people who are homeless as well as some of the shortcomings of our healthcare and social service systems. Finally, Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos, a clinician-scientist and physician in chief at CAMH, told us about her work looking at the effectiveness of a Housing First approach to improve housing stability and health outcomes amongst people experiencing homelessness.

Written by: Thamiya Vasanthakumar

Linda Bingham's full interview
Daniela Mergarten's full interview
Voices on the Street, Working for Change
Dr. Naheed Dosani TedX Talk
Daniela's CBC article on losing home on Dovercourt
PEACH Website
Journey Home Hospice
Paper by Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos: Key Ingredients of a Cross-Section Partnership
Extension of At Home/Chez Soi Study by Vicky Stergiopoulos
Upstream Lab
Health Providers Against Poverty (HPAP)
A Housing First Success Story
Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness
Street Health Report Card
Too Little Too Late: How we fail vulnerable Canadians as they die and what to do about it

#69: Forgotten Voices: Exploring Homelessness and Health