Guise, A. orcid.org/0000-0002-0981-4663, Burridge, S. orcid.org/0000-0002-7069-2490, Annand, P.J. orcid.org/0000-0002-9322-5078 et al. (5 more authors) (2022) Why were COVID-19 infections lower than expected amongst people who are homeless in London, UK in 2020? Exploring community perspectives and the multiple pathways of health inequalities in pandemics. SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, 2. 100038. ISSN 2667-3215
Abstract
High rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths amongst people who are homeless in London, UK were feared. Rates however stayed much lower than expected throughout 2020; an experience that compares to other settings globally. This study sought a community level perspective to explore this rate of infections, and through this explore relationships between COVID-19 and existing health inequalities. Analyses are reported from ongoing qualitative studies on COVID-19 and homeless health service evaluation in London, UK. Repeated in-depth telephone interviews were implemented with people experiencing homelessness in London (n=17; 32 interviews in total) as well as street outreach workers, nurses and hostel staff (n=10) from September 2020 to early 2021. Thematic analysis generated three themes to explore peoples' experiences of, and perspectives on, low infections: people experiencing homelessness following, creating and breaking social distancing and hygiene measures; social distancing in the form of social exclusion as a long-running feature of life; and a narrative of 'street immunity' resulting from harsh living conditions. Further study is needed to understand how these factors combine to prevent COVID-19 and how they relate to different experiences of homelessness. This community perspective can ensure that emerging narratives of COVID-19 prevention success don't ignore longer running causes of homelessness and reinforce stigmatising notions of people who are homeless as lacking agency. Our findings aid theorisation of how health inequalities shape pandemic progression: severe exclusion may substantially delay epidemics in some communities, although with considerable other non-COVID-19 impacts.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | COVID-19; Homeless; Inequalities; Pandemic; Prevention; UK |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Faculty of Social Sciences Research Institute |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 04 Sep 2024 14:01 |
Last Modified: | 04 Sep 2024 14:01 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.ssmqr.2021.100038 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:216822 |