Housing Support Services and the Strengths-Based Approach: Service-User and Staff Perspectives

Abstract

This study aimed to identify main themes in the accounts of individuals encountering homelessness and staff who supported them, in a low-income South-East England town. It explored whether such themes were compatible with the adoption of a strengths-based approach by the local homelessness services. Thirty-one individuals in temporary accommodation and 19 staff were interviewed using a semi-structured schedule. Thematic analysis of the service user accounts identified five themes—Challenging Backgrounds, Effective Provision, Room for Improvement, Strengths, and Aspirations. An equal number of themes emerged from the thematic analysis of the staff interviews—Focus on Trauma and Mental Health, Service User Variability, Service User Involvement, Hard-Working Staff, and Improving Material Conditions. Both sets of narratives supported the adoption of a strengths-based approach by the local services, as they emphasized service user competencies, the importance of co-production, and the necessity to consider context in understanding the experience of homelessness. Including a range of stakeholders, future research needs to follow-up these services after they fully adopt a strengths-based approach.

Keywords:

• Homelessness
• support
• staff
• strengths based
• trauma
• belonging
• co-production

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Antigonos Sochos

Antigonos Sochos is a Reader in Applied Psychology, at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. His main research interests include attachment and other social relationships, collective bonding, and mental health interventions with vulnerable community groups.

Sue Smith

Sue Smith is an Associate Professor and Deputy Director at the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape ToNorth.