HOPE: Housing as an Opportunity to Promote health Equity: A Housing and Integrated Health Model of Care​

Principal Investigator (PI): Dr. Laura Podewils (Denver Health and Hospital Authority)
Co-PI: Dr. Ed Farrell (Colorado Coalition for the Homeless)

Research Model

The “Housing and Integrated Health Models of Care” model of care applies a Risk Stratification Management Tool to prioritize persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) for housing, while at the same time aligning the delivery of Integrated Health services. At the conclusion of the project, the grantees will have a standardized framework, tools, and protocols for the Model that can be used by other organizations to sustain and expand the provision of permanent supportive housing and health services to meet the needs of PEH.

Evaluation Approach

The goal of this project is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a model of care that integrates housing and healthcare service delivery for PEH. This evaluation will determine the care model’s effectiveness on housing stability, program engagement and retention, healthcare and service utilization, and health and social outcomes among PEH.

Contribution to HSTRC’s Research Agenda

PEH face disproportionate marginalization and stigmatization when accessing healthcare services, and frequently have sparse or fragmented social networks, and high levels of social isolation, which have been linked to adverse mental and physical health outcomes. By better aligning needs with housing prioritization and care, and incorporating community perspective, Project HOPE aims to uplift and establish protocols and a replicable Model of Care for assessing and meaningfully addressing needs among PEH​, leverage and integrate existing data to establish Risk Tiering stratification and data to measure program processes and outcomes, improve upon current methods for prioritizing patients for housing​, and provide holistic care for persons with unmet housing, food and social needs .