Using WhatsApp for a homeless count

Homelessness and Unemployment During the Economic Recession: The Case of the City of Girona

“…A big part of this migratory movement is not representative of the city of Girona, despite being important in number and with a relevant demand for assistance services (Gilleland, Lurie, & Rankin, 2016). Although it is influential it is not representative of homelessness in the city of Girona (Calvo & Carbonell, 2017).…”

“…On the other hand, either in the most active moments of pilgrimage for "The Way of Saint James" whilst people pass through the city (when many require shelter services or sleep on the street or in illegally occupied houses and are counted as IEH by the Local Police of Girona) or in response to the increase of tourism in spring and summer which attracts IEH from other neighbouring towns, homelessness can vary significantly and, in any case, could cause a rise in the IEH count at certain moments during the year. Although the transverse counts endeavour to avoid this seasonality (Calvo & Carbonell, 2017) the range of variability of the homelessness numbers, depending on the method used for their count, can be significant (Sales, 2015).…”

Using Facebook for Improving the Psychological Well-Being of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness: Experimental and Longitudinal Study

“…Work carried out with homeless youths to prevent sexually transmitted diseases showed that there exists a high association between Web-based communication and a significant decrease in risk behavior related to HIV and hepatitis C exposure, as well as a higher perception of the risk of people exposed to the possibility of contagion of HIV and hepatitis C [ 14 , 15 ]. SNS are effective tools to promote the increase of individuals experiencing homelessness’ participation in the processes of community intervention [ 16 ] and are proving to be a fundamental tool in the social inclusion and prevention of homelessness among refugees [ 17 ]. Regarding mental health, promoting communication with families and friends through SNS reduces the appearance of symptoms of severe mental disorders [ 18 ], and it is an opportunity to improve psychological well-being and reduce the probabilities of suffering certain symptoms of mental illness in adults as well [ 19 , 20 ].…”

The Prevalence and Nature of Violence Against Women Experiencing Homelessness: A Quantitative Study

“…Specifically, members of the population fell into at least one of the following categories defined in Busch-Geertsema et al's (2016) global framework for conceptualizing and measuring homelessness: 1(a) people who sleep in public spaces; 1(b) people who sleep in sheltered public spaces not designed for human habitation, such as abandoned buildings, bus stops, or stations; 1(c) people who sleep in vehicles; 1(d) people who live on the streets in some sort of improvised roofed space; 2(a) people who stay in night shelters where they have to renegotiate their stay every night; 3(e) people who live in conventional housing that is not suitable for human habitation; 3(f) people who live in trailers, caravans or tents; and 3(g) people who live in unconventional buildings and temporary structures (including those located in marginal neighborhoods or illegal settlements). The estimated IEH population included in these categories during these years (2014-2017) was 950, according to specialized homelessness services in the cities, of which 80-85% were MEH (Calvo & Carbonell, 2017).…”