Health equity for homelessness: a critical review

Abstract

The notion of equity in health manifests itself in modern societies through different ideas and operational proposals. Concerning homeless persons, equity dialogues with equality and justice to mobilize several applications in health: while the liberal conception of equity in health seeks to favor the health conditions of this population without breaking with the current mode of production, the critical conception aims to expand health conditions and needs in the struggle for an emancipated society. With the aim of characterizing the conceptions of equity in health expressed in the scientific literature on this population, this study carried out a critical review of the articles available on online search portals databases. 1,716 publications were identified in the initial sample and 35 articles were included in the review after application of methodological procedures. The articles were characterized in relation to the ideas and applications of equity in health for the homeless population, discussing methodology, justice and equality, distinction between conceptions, health-disease process, public policies and the COVID-19 pandemic. It points to the dominance of the liberal conception in the literature on this population and the need for investigations from the critical conception.