26 September 2022
Homelessness, self-neglect and safeguarding – new article
The article comes in advance of a special event on homelessness and social work
Just published in The British Journal of Social Work, the latest article from our NIHR School for Social Care Research funded study on strengthening Adult Safeguarding responses to homelessness & self-neglect discusses findings from the study’s initial interviews with social workers.
The article asks whether people experiencing multiple exclusion homelessness (MEH) who self-neglect receive support, including adult safeguarding, differently from other populations.
It concludes that, while there are examples of good practice, there are uncertainties within contemporary social work, including whether people who are homeless fall under the ‘umbrella’ of Adult Social Care and adult safeguarding, and it identifies barriers within attitudes and structures to successful multi-disciplinary support.
The article calls for specialist social work and safeguarding expertise to benefit people experiencing MEH.
The learning and implications for social work and homelessness will be explored in our upcoming free online event.
This publication
Harris, J., Martineau, S., Manthorpe, J., Burridge, S., Ornelas, B., Tinelli, M., & Cornes, M. (2022) Social work practice with self-neglect and homelessness: Findings from vignette-based interviews, The British Journal of Social Work.
On Twitter
In this story
Research Fellow
Research Fellow
Visiting Professorial Fellow
Professor Emerita of Social Work
Expert Focus
Rough Sleeping Adviser, Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government
London School of Economics