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26 September 2022

Homelessness, self-neglect and safeguarding – new article

The article comes in advance of a special event on homelessness and social work

A bench with a person's belongings on and about it

Just published in The British Journal of Social Work, the latest article from our NIHR School for Social Care Research funded study on strengthening Adult Safeguarding responses to homelessness & self-neglect discusses findings from the study’s initial interviews with social workers.

The article asks whether people experiencing multiple exclusion homelessness (MEH) who self-neglect receive support, including adult safeguarding, differently from other populations.

It concludes that, while there are examples of good practice, there are uncertainties within contemporary social work, including whether people who are homeless fall under the ‘umbrella’ of Adult Social Care and adult safeguarding, and it identifies barriers within attitudes and structures to successful multi-disciplinary support.

The article calls for specialist social work and safeguarding expertise to benefit people experiencing MEH.

The learning and implications for social work and homelessness will be explored in our upcoming free online event

This publication

Harris, J., Martineau, S., Manthorpe, J., Burridge, S., Ornelas, B., Tinelli, M., & Cornes, M. (2022) Social work practice with self-neglect and homelessness: Findings from vignette-based interviewsThe British Journal of Social Work.

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Jess Harris

Research Fellow

Research Fellow

Michelle Cornes

Visiting Professorial Fellow

Prof J Manthorpe 160

Professor Emerita of Social Work

Stan Burridge

Expert Focus

Bruno Ornelas

Rough Sleeping Adviser, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Michela-Tinelli-Cropped-200x200

London School of Economics