Analyzing the CTOSH listserv to understand the needs, barriers, resources, and strategies used by homeless service providers in central Texas

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

People experiencing homelessness (PEH) have complex needs but access barriers and unclear communication channels contribute to many needs being unmet. The purpose of the current study was to examine use of a free e-mail listserv by homeless service providers in order to better understand informal systems for communicating needs and identifying available resources. The following specific aims were assessed: (1) examine and classify reasons why homeless service providers use the listserv, (2) describe the most common needs expressed, (3) assess the high priority barriers to health and wellness, and (4) identify strategies that homeless service providers use to overcome barriers.

Methods:

Qualitative descriptive methods were used to analyze n = 5630 emails sent over a 4-year period from 2/1/2017 to 2/28/2021.

Results:

The CTOSH listserv is a valuable tool that enables sharing institutional knowledge and collective experience thereby facilitating interorganizational collaboration. Findings reveal several strategies that listserv users employed to overcome service barriers and resource scarcity, and also indicate that informal communication channels are critical during times of crisis.

Conclusions:

Implications include future research to develop agile tools such as the CTOSH listserv and the creation of a community of practice to better support the complex work of homeless service providers.

KEYWORDS:

• Homelessness
• e-mail listserv
• social determinants of health
• information and referral

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Whitney Thurman

Whitney Thurman is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing. She has broad expertise in public health systems and public health nursing, and her overall research interests center on identifying and supporting community-based health and social care for populations experiencing homelessness. She is currently a fellow of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators.

Elizabeth Heitkemper

Elizabeth Heitkemper is an assistant professor at the UT Austin, School of Nursing. She did her PhD at Columbia University Irving Medical Center School of Nursing and completed a postdoctoral position at the department of biomedical informatics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Her research focuses on developing precision interventions to address health equity and improve population health and the outcomes of medically underserved adults through data-driven decision-making and chronic disease self-management education and support.

Tara Hutson

Tara Hutson is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Health Outcomes Division at the UT Austin College of Pharmacy. Her research focuses on how the criminal legal system contributes to poor health and quality of life at the individual, family, and system levels.

Kirsten Layton Sinay

Kristen Layton Sinay is a PhD candidate at the UT Austin School of Nursing. Her research focuses on menstrual health management and equity.

Haley Glaeser

Haley Glaeser is a PhD candidate at the UT Austin School of Nursing. Her research focuses on intellectual and developmental disability.

Ebonie Trice

Ebonie Trice is the CEO and founder of Mission Accomplished, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Their primary program is Operation Clean Clothes which provides free mobile laundry services to people experiencing homelessness.

Heran Kidane

Heran Kidane is an academic adviser and health and wellness coordinator at the University of Washington School of Public Health.

Ivan Dolotina

Ivan Dolotina is a registered nurse at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas.