King's College London

Maureen Crane and Louise Joly presented findings from the HEARTH study on Wednesday 13 March 2024 at the 13^th International Conference of the Faculty for Homeless and Inclusion Health. The conference was held in London, with presentations live-streamed at regional hubs in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. Their presentation was in the first plenary session on ‘From Evidence to Action – Inclusion Health in Today’s NHS’, and focused on the effectiveness of different models of primary health care services for people who are homeless. It followed a keynote address by Professor Kamila Hawthorne MBE, Chair of Council, Royal College of General Practitioners.

Following the presentation, Maureen and Louise were approached by several clinicians and service managers who enjoyed the presentation, were appreciative of the extent of the study and were interested in the full report. Several mentioned they planned to discuss the findings with others in their organisation, including commissioners. A video of the presentation will be available shortly. The HEARTH study’s final report was also referenced in the Faculty for Homeless and Inclusion Health's 'Health Barometer 2024' which was launched at the conference.

The HEARTH study, which was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR),  was led by Dr Maureen Crane of the NIHR Health and Social Care Workforce Research Unit at King's as part of the Unit's Homelessness Research Programme. In October 2023,  the study's final report (258pp) was published along with two briefing papers, one for NHS primary care and integrated care commissioners (11pp) and one for NHS primary care managers and practice staff (14pp), which spell out the findings and implications for these professionals.

Read more about the study.