Centre for Homelessness Research and Practice (CHRP) and Homelessness Community of Practice (HCOP) launch event
The official launch of the Centre for Homelessness Research and Practice (CHRP) and Homelessness Community of Practice (HCOP), led by Associate Professor Nick Maguire, recently took place at the John Hansard Gallery, Southampton. It was great to hear input from the University of Southampton, civic leaders, and most importantly, experts by experience.
The mission of the Homelessness Community of Practice (HCOP) is to create a space and platform for all people, at all levels, engaged in any activity in the service of people who are homeless, so they can come together, support each other, continue learning, enhance skills and quality of work, build deeper relationships with others in the field… all this through sharing best research and practice in working with homelessness.
The HCOP is run from the University of Southampton, but it also includes the SE region. The purpose of the HCOP is to develop collaborations between research and community, where members of HCOP will co-create and co-design real-world research, producing meaningful outcomes to services and improving the lives of people experiencing homelessness.
The CHRP also hosted its first Community Research Impact Event, a knowledge exchange and networking event for workers and researchers engaged in research in the service of people who are homeless.
Attendees included city councillors, service commissioners, university researchers and third sector staff from homelessness organisations. The event aimed to get impact in society at the front of our minds and to think about how we could increase our impact when we gather any data, evaluate our services, and research new areas. Real life stories were shared with time for attendees to consider their own research. Lilly Scott, Clinical Psychology Trainee, presented ‘The Effectiveness of Psychological Interventions for Homeless People: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis’. One commissioner commented that it was reassuring to know that a service she had commissioned last year was shown to be effective.
Signe Gosmann, from Justlife Brighton, shared an evaluation of an Out of Area Health Engagement Worker project and the lessons learned from this type of provision. Jennifer Tarabay, Manager of the Homelessness Community of Practice, presented findings from a study of Intergenerational Trauma and Resilience in Lebanese Families, particularly relevant for those working with people experiencing homelessness from an armed forces background or asylum seekers from war-torn countries.