The impact of trauma on mental health in people experiencing homelessness: a qualitative study exploring the role of system factors and social networks

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Emma Adams  (Principal Investigator)

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This study involved colleagues from Newcastle University, University of Edinburgh, and people with lived experience.

Trauma commonly occurs before and as a result of homelessness. Trauma can be an experience (physical or emotional) that is life-threatening, harmful, or out of the ordinary and has lasting impacts on all aspects of wellbeing. Addressing homelessness and trauma requires us to look at more than the individual to consider the role of social networks (e.g. number and level of support among friends) and system factors (e.g. lack of income, lack of access to support, care requirements). Yet there is a gap in understanding the role these have in helping or making mental health worse when people experiencing homelessness face trauma. We will be exploring this through a series of smaller studies.