Daily Occupations, Routines, and Social Participation of Homeless Young People

ABSTRACT

Homelessness disrupts young people’s participation in the productive occupations that facilitate transition to adulthood, impairs social connections, and has a disorganizing effect on their time use. Semi-structured focus group interviews were used to explore how 19 homeless young people perceived their daily routines, meaningful occupations, and social participation to be impacted by the experience of homelessness. Occupational therapy practitioners can use the findings from this study to inform the development of comprehensive community-based programming aimed at increasing social opportunities, developing balanced, healthy routines, decreasing intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to residential stability, and promoting participation in productive and leisure occupations.

KEYWORDS:

• Homelessness
• occupational participation
• routines
• social support
• young people

Notes

Dove identified as gender-non-conforming, so the gender neutral pronouns “they” and “them” are used to reference them.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Midwestern University College of Health Sciences Faculty Research Fund.