Street Medics: An innovative learning opportunity for UK medical students in a primary care outreach setting

A response to ‘inclusion of the homeless in health equity curricula: a needs assessment study’

“…In striving to understand these struggles, exposure to caring for homeless populations could potentially help foster empathy for their situations and change the negative attitudes, stereotypes and stigmas often harboured towards the homeless, as shown possible in a study by Walsh et al [3] This is also corroborated in the article as those with prior exposure to homelessness had more positive attitudes in caring for this population (higher HPATHI scores). Though didactic teaching on the topic can be helpful, it can also serve to homogenise a patient population defined by individual tribulations, each with a story to tell that guides the personalised care they need.…”

“…To do so requires, first and foremost, teaching within medical training to better prepare the future workforce. This appetite for a greater emphasis on homeless populations in healthcare curriculums from American healthcare students is mirrored by their British counterparts [3], including the authors themselves.…”

Housing First

“…While there are some published descriptions of primary care outreach models for homeless or marginally housed populations, the evidence base for the effect of the clinical supports embedded in HF models on patient outcomes, particularly for patients with SUDs, is scant. [23][24][25] Anecdotally, people who are otherwise unattached to primary care and those who are disorganized and have difficultly attending scheduled appointments or walk-in clinics owing to severe mental illness or traumatic brain injuries tend to benefit greatly from this low-barrier access to care.…”

Logement d’abord

“…Bien qu'il existe certaines descriptions publiées de modèles d'approche en soins primaires pour les populations d'itinérants ou marginalement logées, les données probantes relatives aux effets des soutiens cliniques enchâssés dans les modèles de LD sur les résultats pour les patients, en particulier ceux qui souffrent de TCS, sont plutôt rares [23][24][25] . Sur une base anecdotique, les personnes qui, autrement, n'ont aucun lien avec les soins primaires, et celles qui sont désorganisées et ont des difficultés à respecter leurs rendez-vous ou à aller dans une clinique sans rendez-vous en raison d'une maladie mentale sévère ou d'une lésion cérébrale traumatique, ont tendance à bénéficier grandement de cet accès facile aux soins.…”