Street medicine: An interprofessional elective to address the unhoused population crisis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The homelessness crisis continues to escalate nationwide, yet many healthcare providers are not adequately prepared to provide care for unhoused patients. An interprofessional Street Medicine elective was developed to address identified knowledge gaps in the unhoused population healthcare needs. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: The course comprised didactic and clinical elements focused on empathetic communication, resource utilization, and medical management for unhoused patients. Course learning outcomes were evaluated via thematic analysis of students' post-course reflective essays. Additionally, students completed a voluntary survey to evaluate course effectiveness in preparing students for healthcare in the unhoused population and to identify areas for course improvement. FINDINGS: Thirty students completed the course (17 osteopathic medical, five pharmacy, eight joint physician assistant/public health). All enrolled students submitted mandatory post-course reflections and 57% completed the voluntary survey. Thematic analysis of reflections indicated that the course content challenged biases toward unhoused populations, equipped students with new perspectives on the unique healthcare needs for unhoused patients, and provided interprofessional approaches to address these needs. Voluntary survey results demonstrated students' preparedness to provide effective care for local unhoused patients without bias or stigma. Most students reported they were likely to incorporate the knowledge/skills acquired from the course in their future clinical practice and were satisfied with the course content and organization. SUMMARY: The Street Medicine elective provided a structured interprofessional curricular opportunity on specialized care for unhoused individuals. This course can be adapted by other healthcare professional programs to empower students to address the growing homelessness crisis.

Health services and the Project RoomKey COVID-19 initiative for the unhoused: A university and community partnership.

A hotel-based clinic to serve Project RoomKey residents is a model for meeting the health care needs of an unhoused population. The purpose of this paper is to describe the health services provided by students and licensed clinicians at a hotel that was designed to allow unhoused community residents to shelter in place during the early stages of the Covid pandemic (May 1-June 30, 2020). Documents developed for the project may be useful to others who are setting up similar services for unhoused residents in their own communities.