Team Involvement in COVID-19 Response

Home2Health Team Involvement in COVID-19 response   

Since mid-March 2020, Professor Lisa Wood and the Home2Health team have been heavily involved in research and evidence-led advocacy around the high COVID-19 vulnerability of people experiencing homelessness.  This has been done in close collaboration with the Homeless Healthcare primary care practice in Perth, the RPH Homeless team, a consortium of homelessness sector organisations in WA, and through input to the Department of Communities COVID-19 taskforce on homelessness. 

What have we been doing?    

• Rapid analysis and targeted communication of data relating to the heightened vulnerability of people who are homeless to COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. See our published papers here and here.

• Close collaboration with UK colleagues (researchers and healthcare experts) to adapt their comprehensive COVID-19 Homeless Sector Plan to WA context, and get advice on its implementation.

• Invited involvement in COVID-19 working groups, homelessness taskforce, sector briefings, Department of Health scenario planning.

• Webinar for homeless sector on COVID-19 early in the pandemic - Presented by Lisa Wood from our team, alongside Dr Andrew Davies from Homeless Healthcare and hosted by Shelter WA

• Podcast - The Meaning of Health Series on the additional challenges posed by COVID-19 for people experiencing Homelessness

• Lisa Wood was involved in the strategic advisory group for the Hotels with Heart pilot project.

• Development with Homeless Healthcare of evidence-based health related information on COVID-19 for homelessness sector and health organisations working with people experiencing homelessness. See our publications for more.

• Action research and evaluation put in place for several initiatives being funded in WA to reduce impact of COVID-19 on people who are homeless. 

• Coronavax - Our team are working as Co-investigators on the Coronavax 3 Study that is exploring COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and access, including barriers to access and strategies to address this for vulnerable population groups, including people experiencing homelessness.

• Our team is working together with Homeless Healthcare to gauge vaccination uptake among people who are homeless - our work can be seen in recent news articles following the issue.

• Advocacy for vaccination of vulnerable groups backed up through auditing of vaccination status records and data gathered within the homeless population.

Media Coverage:

See our work in the media

WA News

• Perth's homeless population remains vulnerable to COVID-19, with many unvaccinated - By Keane Bourke, ABC News

• ‘Perfect storm’: fears for WA homeless people as data reveals low COVID vaccination rate - By Luke Henriques-Gomes, The Guardian Australia

• Coronavirus will 'spread like wildfire': urgent calls to house Perth's most vulnerable - By Marta Pascual Juanola, WA Today

• Perth’s homeless are being offered five-star luxury amid the coronavirus pandemic, but is it making a difference? - By Kim McDonald, The West Australian

Australian News

• Coronavirus: Rough sleepers swap streets for warm beds - The Australian

• Some homeless people moved to 5 star hotels in a bid to beat COVID-19 - Felicity Ogilive, The ABC