Faith-based Health and Social Services for People Experiencing Homelessness in the United States: A Scoping Review of the Literature.

Across the U.S., faith communities play a crucial role in delivering services to people experiencing homelessness (PEH). However, factors influencing faith communities' provision of health and social services to PEH and related outcomes are unclear. The purpose of this scoping review of the literature, therefore, was to investigate the provision of health and social services for PEH by faith communities across the U.S.: how those services are coordinated, funded, and sustained, and associated outcomes. Eleven articles met inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Findings suggest that while faith communities provide critical services for PEH, further research is necessary in order to understand how, when, and with whom they work; how programs are funded and sustained; and outcomes associated with these services. We suggest that academic-community partnerships may enhance our understanding of faith-based services for PEH and increase capacity of faith communities for providing them.

GPS Mobile Health Intervention Among People Experiencing Homelessness: Pre-Post Study.

BACKGROUND: People experiencing homelessness are at risk for gaps in care after an emergency department (ED) or hospital visit, which leads to increased use, poor health outcomes, and high health care costs. Most people experiencing homelessness have a mobile phone of some type, which makes mobile health (mHealth) interventions a feasible way to connect a person experiencing homelessness with providers. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the accuracy, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a GPS-enabled mHealth (GPS-mHealth) intervention designed to alert community health paramedics when people experiencing homelessness are in the ED or hospital. METHODS: This study was a pre-post design with baseline and 4-month postenrollment assessments. People experiencing homelessness, taking at least 2 medications for chronic conditions, scoring at least 10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and having at least 2 ED or hospital visits in the previous 6 months were eligible. Participants were issued a study smartphone with a GPS app programmed to alert a community health paramedic when a participant entered an ED or hospital. For each alert, community health paramedics followed up via telephone to assess care coordination needs. Participants also received a daily email to assess medication adherence. GPS alerts were compared with ED and hospital data from the local health information exchange (HIE) to assess accuracy. Paired t tests compared scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey, and Adherence Starts with Knowledge-12 adherence survey at baseline and exit. Semistructured exit interviews examined the perceptions and benefits of the intervention. RESULTS: In total, 30 participants were enrolled; the mean age was 44.1 (SD 9.7) years. Most participants were male (20/30, 67%), White (17/30, 57%), and not working (19/30, 63%). Only 19% (3/16) of the ED or hospital visit alerts aligned with HIE data, mainly because of patients not having the smartphone with them during the visit, the smartphone being off, and gaps in GPS technology. There was a significant difference in depressive symptoms between baseline (mean 16.9, SD 5.8) and exit (mean 12.7, SD 8.2; t19=2.9; P=.009) and a significant difference in adherence barriers between baseline (mean 2.4, SD 1.4) and exit (mean 1.5, SD 1.5; t17=2.47; P=.03). Participants agreed that the app was easy to use (mean 4.4/5, SD 1.0, with 5=strongly agree), and the email helped them remember to take their medications (mean 4.6/5, SD 0.6). Qualitative data indicated that unlimited smartphone access allowed participants to meet social needs and maintain contact with case managers, health care providers, family, and friends. CONCLUSIONS: mHealth interventions are acceptable to people experiencing homelessness. HIE data provided more accurate ED and hospital visit information; however, unlimited access to reliable communication provided benefits to participants beyond the study purpose of improving care coordination.

A scoping review of community paramedicine: evidence and implications for interprofessional practice.

Community paramedicine (CP) is an evolving method of providing community-based health care in which paramedics function outside of their traditional emergency response roles in order to improve access to primary and preventive health care and to basic social services. Early evidence indicates that CP programs have contributed to reducing health care utilization and improving patient outcomes leading some to call for a transformation of EMS into value-based mobile healthcare fully integrated within an interprofessional care team. The purpose of this scoping review was to understand the evidence base of CP in order to inform the further evolution of this model of care. Following the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews, 1,163 titles were screened by our research team. Eligibility criteria were publication in English after January 1, 2000; description of a CP program located in a Western nation; and inclusion of a discussion of outcomes. Twenty-nine publications met the criteria for inclusion. The literature was varied in terms of study design, program purpose, and target audience. The lack of rigorous, longitudinal studies with control groups makes rendering conclusions as to the value and effectiveness of CP programs difficult. Further, the extent to which community paramedics operate within interprofessional teams remains unclear. However, some programs demonstrated improvement in both health services and patient outcomes. As stakeholders continue to explore the potential of CP, results of this review highlight the importance of further investigation of outcomes, the professional identity of the community paramedic, and the role of the community paramedic on interprofessional teams.