The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #59510

Anthony M Warnes, BSc, PhD, AcSS¹, Alice M Rota-Bartelink, BApSci², Frances Mirabelli³, Bryan Lipmann⁴, and Alice M Rota-Bartelink, BApSci². (1) Sheffield Institute for Studies on Ageing, University of Sheffield, UK, Community Sciences Centre, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield S5 7AU, United Kingdom, 0044 114 271 5773, a.warnes@shef.ac.uk, (2) Research, Wintringham, 136 Mount Alexander Road, PO Box 193, Flemington, 3031, Australia, (3) Director of Services, Wintringham, 136 Mount Alexander Road, PO Box 193, Flemington, Victoria, 3031, Australia, (4) Wintringham, 136 Mount Alexander Road, Flemington, Australia

Wintringham, a specialist housing provider for vulnerable older people in Flemington, Victoria (in the Melbourne metropolitan region), is the Australian partner in the comparative study examining the causes of homelessness among newly homeless older people. The study partners include researchers and homeless service provider organizations in the US (Boston) and the UK (Sheffield). The research is funded by the Department of Family and Community Services of the Australian Commonwealth Government. Most of the 125 subjects have been residents of Wintringham housing schemes, but from late 2002 additional subjects were drawn from other organisations that work with older homeless people in Victoria. This paper will present the Australian findings, which will include the informant’s background and previous experience and what the triggers were to this episode of homelessness. Analysis of the contributions of housing supply, personal finances and health to the occurrence of homelessness will refer to the structure of 'state welfare' and service provision for homeless people in Victoria and how these differ from the US and UK.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants in the session will learn about: (i) the profiles and causes of homelessness among older people in Victoria, Australia; (ii) the ways in which health, housing and welfare services are organised and delivered in Victoria, Australia, and how these contribute to the generation of homelessness and condition the service response.

Keywords: Homelessness, International

Related Web page: www.wintringham.org.au/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.