Engaging Populations Experiencing Homelessness in Nursing Research: Barriers and Best Practices

Abstract

Populations experiencing homelessness are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality from acute and chronic illness and experience extreme health inequities across a wide range of disorders. High attrition rates, concerns for the safety of research staff, and increased complexity of protocols needed to address situations unique to homelessness may preclude nurse researchers from including populations experiencing homelessness in health services and outcomes research. The purpose of this paper is to examine the barriers and challenges to research participation encountered by populations experiencing homelessness. A secondary aim is to analyze the ethical and methodological issues that nurse researchers face when studying persons experiencing homelessness and to propose best practices for addressing these barriers. Strategies to recruit and retain persons experiencing homelessness require an intensive, unique, individualized approach that includes actively engaging with marginalized populations, forging strong community partnerships, and understanding the environment, cultural, and community context in order to recruit and retain hard to reach populations.