Homelessness, COVID-19, and discourses of contagion ☆

Ssm. Qualitative Research in Health · 6 authors, 4 centres

AI SUMMARY

FIDELITY 100%

This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.

AGENT 01 · STRUCTURED SUMMARY

TRACE TO SOURCE

“

TL;DR

This qualitative study analyzed interviews with service providers and media articles to explore how discourses during the COVID-19 pandemic framed people experiencing homelessness as dangerous vectors of infection rather than a vulnerable group, leading to increased stigma and trauma.

Full summary

421 CHARS

A qualitative case study conducted from March to September 2021 involved virtual interviews with 28 service providers and key informants in Ottawa, Canada, supplemented by a scan of 71 media articles. This led to internalized blame, dehumanization, and trauma for this population. The authors conclude by advocating for the integration of trauma- and violence-informed care principles into future public health responses.

STUDY TYPE

other

SPECIALTY

public health

SUMMARISED BY

AI pipeline

FIDELITY CHECK

100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10127664

Homelessness, COVID-19, and discourses of contagion ☆

Ssm. Qualitative Research in Health

READ THE FULL PAPER

ABSTRACT

In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began in Canada, public health and medical authorities quickly identified emergency shelters and people experiencing homelessness as particularly at risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 (Knight et al., 2021). Drawing on interviews with 28 service providers in organizations that primarily serve people experiencing homelessness in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and a media scan, we explored how people who worked in and accessed these organizations negotiated discourses of contagion and infection throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper is informed by Goffman's (1963) theory of stigma, complemented by Crawford's (1994) idea of the Self and unhealthy Other. We argue that people experiencing homelessness, the spaces that they occupy, and the people they engage with, have been discursively marked as dangerous vectors of infection who present a risk to the health of the whole population, rather than as vulnerable to the health consequences and social disruption of COVID-19. Consequently, people experiencing homelessness have experienced further stigmatization throughout the pandemic as they have been separated from their communities, friends, and families, left without support or shelter, internalized blame for the spread of COVID-19, and faced dehumanization, grief, and trauma resulting from uneven COVID-19 interventions. We highlight these findings to support the application of trauma- and violence-informed care in service settings to prevent the further traumatization of people experiencing homelessness in services intended to support them.

CITATION EXPORT

Sydney Chapados, Benjamin S. Roebuck, Sue-Ann Macdonald et al.. Homelessness, COVID-19, and discourses of contagion☆. Ssm. Qualitative Research in Health. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100276

AUTHORS

6 · 4 CENTRES

Sydney Chapados, Benjamin S. Roebuck, Sue-Ann Macdonald, Erin Dej, Carmen Hust, Diana McGlinchey

aDepartment of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University, Canada
bVictimology Research Centre, Algonquin College, Canada
cÉcole de Travail Social, Université de Montréal, Canada
dDepartment of Criminology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada