Homelessness reading pile

Priya Nathwani

@breadandbones

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The stack I reach for after a twelve‑hour shift when I’m too tired to talk about bed sores but still want to understand why my patients are choosing A&E over GPs, and why the soup at the church hall might be their only hot meal all week. Mostly food, access, and the small ways services help or quietly fail people who don’t have an address. Consider this my ongoing attempt at evidence‑based nosiness before I volunteer myself into another rota.

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Homelessness reading pile — 9 items
Name	Authors	Year	Main focus	Population/setting	My take
1Food Is Medicine for Individuals Affected by Homelessness: Findings from a Participatory Soup Kitchen Menu Redesign	Wetherill et al.	2022	Redesigning a soup kitchen menu using a "food is medicine" approach to support cardiometabolic and mental health.	Guests at an urban US soup kitchen and linked overflow shelter.	Proof that the ladle can be a clinical tool. Makes me side‑eye every beige tray we serve on the ward.
2Nutrition programmes for individuals living with disadvantage in supported residential settings: a scoping review	Rowe et al.	2021	Overview of nutrition interventions for people living with extreme disadvantage in residential services.	Residents in shelters, transitional housing and other supported accommodation, mostly high‑income countries.	Reads like a menu of good intentions. Helpful for ideas, less good if you’re allergic to weak study designs.
3A systematic review of the nutritional status of adults experiencing homelessness	Huang et al.	2022	Synthesises what we actually know about BMI, micronutrient status and diet in adults experiencing homelessness.	People experiencing homelessness in shelters, hostels, hospitals and drop‑in centres in high‑income countries.	The depressing confirmation that malnutrition can look like obesity, anaemia and scurvy sharing a tent.
4Nutrition Status of People Experiencing Homelessness Residing in Temporary Accommodation in London	Ward et al.	2023	Assesses malnutrition risk, clinical markers and comorbidities among people in London temporary accommodation.	Adults experiencing homelessness housed in temporary accommodation in London.	Feels uncomfortably local. Basically my take‑home is that half my bleep list should come with a dietitian attached.
5Interventions for preventing or treating malnutrition in homeless problem‑drinkers: a systematic review	Harries et al.	2018	Evaluates education, food and supplement programmes aimed at improving nutrition in homeless people who drink heavily.	Homeless or marginally housed problem‑drinkers in various international settings.	Confirms what we see on take‑home summaries: lots of thiamine, not a lot of certainty we’re doing it well.
6Access to healthcare for people experiencing homelessness in the UK and Ireland: a scoping review	McNeill et al.	2022	Maps barriers and facilitators to healthcare access for people experiencing homelessness across the UK and Ireland.	People experiencing homelessness interacting with primary care, emergency care and outreach services.	Reads like a greatest‑hits album of everything patients rant about in triage. Useful for arguing that the system isn’t "neutral".
7A systematic scoping review of primary health care service outreach for homeless populations	Kopanitsa et al.	2023	Reviews primary care outreach models and how well they actually reach and help people on the margins.	Adults experiencing homelessness receiving primary care via outreach in high‑income countries.	If we won’t let people into the clinic, the least we can do is take the clinic to the hostel car park. This backs that up.
8Primary health care for people experiencing homelessness: the effectiveness of specialist and mainstream health service provision	Harris et al.	2024	Compares dedicated homeless health centres, mobile teams, specialist GP practices and usual GP care in England.	People experiencing homelessness using four different primary care models across England.	The HEARTH data are what commissioners keep quoting. Handy when you’re trying to defend that "weird" homeless clinic down the road.
9Provision and accessibility of primary healthcare services for people who are homeless: a qualitative study of patient perspectives in the UK	Canavan et al.	2019	Explores how people who are homeless experience mainstream and specialist primary care services.	Patients with lived experience of homelessness using UK primary care, including a specialist homeless practice.	A reminder that asking for proof of address is not a harmless bit of admin. Should be compulsory reading before anyone gets an NHS smartcard.