Attendees were all too aware of the backdrop to the forum: the life expectancy of rough sleepers being a sobering average age of 44 years old (more than 30 years earlier than the average death of all Australians) with indigenous Australians disproportionately featured among those preventable deaths; discharges from episodic hospital care into homelessness; and the current housing crisis, with limited pathways into supported, permanent accommodation.
The message was clear: the MOST effective health interventions are stable, safe, affordable housing + supports to keep people housed + access to primary healthcare in the community.
The Forum covered:
- What makes a purposeful, effective healthcare intervention
- Collaborative models like ED pathways, hospital in-reach & medical respite
- Strong hospital-primary care-community connections, info sharing and planning
- Trauma-informed, housing-first approaches for people with substance use and mental health challenges
Thanks to Prof Cameron Parsell, The University of Queensland for reminding us that "how we respond to people who are homeless demonstrates how we value each other, how we can achieve health equity and social cohesionā.
Thank you to Ivan Frkovic, Queensland Mental Health Commissioner, for opening the forum and challenging us to harness currently policy and combine evidence, values and cost-effectiveness to scale local and interstate solutions.
To all our speakers and panelists: Dr Amanda Stafford (Royal Perth Hospital Homeless Team), Dr Jane Currie (QUT), Talay Quinlan (Inclusive Health), Dale Lockhart (RBWH Homeless Health Outreach Team), Deborah Molisi (Micah Projects), James Ready (RBWH ED) and Stephanie Smith (QAS) ā thank you for your insights and commitment.
To everyone from homelessness services, government, community orgs, health services and universities who attended: we hope you left inspired and informed.
To find out more about the H2H network, reach out to h2hhealcarenetwork@micahprojects.org.au
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