Understanding discrimination towards persons experiencing homelessness: A scoping review protocol

Abstract

IntroductionGiven the increasing rates of homelessness in recent years, there is an urgent need to address the ongoing discrimination and societal disinterest in preventing, reducing and ending homelessness. There is no systematic review of experiences of stigma and discrimination among persons experiencing homelessness or interventions to combat this discrimination. The objective for the proposed study is to identify ways in which persons experiencing homelessness have been stigmatised and discriminated against, the results of these experiences, and interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination towards persons experiencing homelessness.Methods and analysisWe are conducting a scoping review with guidance from the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis and Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. From 15 to 19 July 2022, we searched the following databases from our institutional licensed years of coverage: Medline, Embase, CINAHL Complete, Academic Search Ultimate, APA PsycINFO, Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Emerging Sources Citation Index, Left, PAIS International, PILOTS, Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection, Sociological Abstracts, and Dissertations and Theses Global. Two independent reviewers are screening study titles/abstracts and will independently screen the full texts. Study inclusion criteria include any study type reporting primary findings of English-language research on non-refugee persons experiencing homelessness in any type of setting or service worldwide. Three reviewers will then chart data of our included studies. Data will be extracted and organised into categories and subthemes in tabular form. To understand the validity of the scoping review findings in the local context and to gather additional perspectives on the topic, we will conduct an ‘expert consultation’ workshop.Ethics and disseminationThis study has ethics approval from the University of Utah Institutional Review Board. Review findings will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal and at conferences. We plan to preregister this protocol with Open Science Framework.

Social stigma toward people experiencing homelessness: A survey with a representative sample in Spain.

“…Considering the above, it is relevant to state that there is a significant paucity of data and empirical information regarding stigma and homelessness. For example, there is currently no systematic review on the effectiveness of stigma-reduction interventions for PEH (Canham, Rose, et al, 2022). Furthermore, despite the severe consequences that stigma can have for this group, there are not many studies with nationally representative samples.…”