Homelessness and health
Supporting better access to health care
Having a safe and secure place to live is fundamental to good health.
People experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity can face greater health challenges and significant barriers to accessing health care.
Healthy North Coast works with health providers, community organisations and other partners to improve access to primary health care and support more connected care for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness across the North Coast.
Our focus is on bringing health care closer to people, reducing barriers to accessing services and supporting people experiencing disadvantage to receive the care they need.
Housing and homelessness
Having a safe, secure and affordable place to live can affect physical health, mental health and wellbeing.
People experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity may find it harder to:
- access regular health care
- manage medications
- store medications safely
- eat nutritious food
- manage chronic health conditions
- recover following illness or hospital treatment
- maintain good mental health
- access transport to health services
- stay connected with family and community.
People experiencing homelessness can also have complex health needs and may be living with more than one physical or mental health condition.
Improving health therefore requires health, housing and community services to work together.
Homelessness on the North Coast
Housing affordability and availability are significant challenges across the North Coast.
Natural disasters, rising housing costs and limited availability of affordable and social housing have placed additional pressure on individuals and families.
Healthy North Coast’s Health Needs Assessment shows increasing numbers of people sleeping rough or seeking support from Specialist Homelessness Services.
People experiencing homelessness in our region may be sleeping rough, living in tents or improvised dwellings, staying temporarily with family or friends, living in temporary accommodation or experiencing other forms of housing insecurity.
Some communities experience a greater impact than others.
Older people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are among the populations disproportionately represented in homelessness data for the North Coast.
Understanding these differences helps Healthy North Coast and our partners identify where health services and additional support are needed.
Bringing health care to people who need it
Accessing traditional health services can be difficult for someone experiencing homelessness.
That’s why Healthy North Coast supports approaches that bring primary health care into places where people already feel comfortable seeking support.
Primary health care outreach
Healthy North Coast has supported outreach health services for people experiencing homelessness across the North Coast.
These services bring GPs and nurses into community organisations and homelessness support services, making it easier for people to access health care without needing to navigate traditional health services first.
Carefinders
Care finders is a free service that helps older adults connect with the aged care supports they need. It’s designed for people who face significant barriers to accessing services. Care finders walk alongside each person at their own pace, taking the time to understand their unique circumstances and guiding them through every step to get the right help in place.
Care finders can help someone with:
- Speaking with My Aged Care on their behalf and organising assessments
- Attending assessments alongside them and offering guidance throughout the process
- Finding, comparing, and shortlisting aged-care providers in their local area
- Helping complete paperwork and understand aged-care service agreements
- Checking in after services begin to ensure everything is working well
- Connecting them with other community supports – such as health and mental health services, housing and homelessness support, drug and alcohol services, and local community groups.
Across the North Coast, the Care Finder program is delivered by:
- Each in Lismore, Coffs Harbour, Clarence Valley, Richmond Valley, Port Macquarie–Hastings, Kempsey, Nambucca and Bellingen
- Footprints in Kyogle, Tweed, Byron and Ballina.
Outreach services have included:
Tweed Heads
Primary health care delivered at Fred’s Place, a St Vincent de Paul drop-in service supporting people experiencing homelessness and disadvantage.
Coffs Harbour
Primary health care delivered at Pete’s Place, where people can also access meals, showers, clothing and other support.
Mullumbimby
Primary health care delivered through Mullumbimby and District Neighbourhood Centre, connecting people experiencing homelessness with GP and nursing support.
By providing health care alongside trusted community services, these approaches can help people access care earlier and connect with other health and social supports.
Local solutions in action
Healthy North Coast also invests in locally designed approaches to improving health care for people experiencing homelessness and disadvantage.
Nurse-led care in Ballina
Through Healthy North Coast’s Primary Care Impact Grants, OneBridge has partnered with Mary’s Place to deliver a nurse-led chronic disease prevention and management service in Ballina.
The program supports people experiencing homelessness, poverty and chronic illness to access primary care, telehealth, allied health and preventive health services.
Bringing health care into an existing community support setting helps reduce barriers and creates opportunities for people to receive ongoing care.
Preventive health care for women
Healthy North Coast has also supported a nurse-led clinic through Fletcher Street Cottage in Byron Bay for women experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
The trauma-informed service provides screening and preventive health care in a safe and accessible setting.
The approach recognises that people experiencing homelessness may have difficulty accessing traditional health services and that trust, continuity and accessibility are important parts of good health care.
Looking after your health
If you’re experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, looking after your health can be difficult – particularly when finding somewhere safe to stay is your immediate priority.
Health services can help with:
- general health concerns
- chronic conditions
- medications
- wounds and infections
- vaccinations
- sexual health
- women’s health
- dental health
- mental health and wellbeing
- alcohol and other drug concerns
- preventive health checks
- referrals to other health services.
If you’re unsure where to start, a GP, community health service or Healthdirect can help you understand what care you may need.
Mental health and wellbeing
Homelessness and housing insecurity can place significant pressure on mental health and wellbeing.
People may be dealing with uncertainty, financial stress, relationship breakdown, trauma, isolation or difficulty accessing the services they need.
Mental health support is available across the North Coast.
Healthy North Coast commissions a range of mental health services, from early support through to services for people experiencing more complex mental health needs.
Alcohol and other drug support
Alcohol and other drug use can affect people from all backgrounds.
For someone experiencing homelessness, accessing treatment and maintaining ongoing support can be more difficult.
Healthy North Coast commissions alcohol and other drug treatment and support services across the region.
Services can help people with their own alcohol or drug use and provide support for families and carers.
Drug and Alcohol Service – Mid North Coast Local Health District
Drug and Alcohol Service – Northern NSW Local Health District
Aboriginal health and homelessness
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are disproportionately represented among people experiencing homelessness on the North Coast.
Health, housing, culture, connection to Country and community are closely connected.
Healthy North Coast works in partnership with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services and Aboriginal communities across our region to support access to culturally safe primary health care.
Depending on a person’s needs, Aboriginal health services can provide general health care, preventive health checks, chronic disease management, mental health and social and emotional wellbeing support and connections with other services.
Working together for better health
Homelessness is not something the health system can address alone.
Improving health outcomes requires health, housing, homelessness, social and community services to work together.
Healthy North Coast works with general practices, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, Local Health Districts, homelessness organisations, community services and other partners to improve connections between services and reduce barriers to health care.
Our approach focuses on understanding local needs, bringing care closer to communities and strengthening the way different parts of the health and social care system work together.
For someone experiencing homelessness, connected care can mean being able to access health care through a trusted community organisation, receiving support for more than one health need and being connected with other services without having to navigate the system
Understanding homelessness and health in our region
Healthy North Coast’s Health Needs Assessment identifies homelessness and housing insecurity as important social factors affecting health across our region.
Our local evidence shows that homelessness has increased and that the way people experience homelessness on the North Coast differs from broader NSW patterns.
The assessment considers:
- homelessness and rough sleeping
- housing affordability
- social and affordable housing
- people at risk of homelessness
- use of Specialist Homelessness Services
- differences between communities
- populations experiencing greater vulnerability
- the relationship between social circumstances and health.
These insights help Healthy North Coast understand where barriers to health care exist and guide our planning, partnerships and investment.