Identifying predictors and consequences of homelessness in Northern Ireland using linked housing and health and social care data: A study protocol. (Preprint)

Abstract

Homelessness is believed to cause serious health and social consequences, yet there are practical and methodological challenges for service providers and policy-makers who wish to quantify these effects. This protocol outlines our approach to a planned study that combines administrative healthcare data and social housing data to characterize health and social care-related consequences and predictors of homelessness in Northern Ireland.

This study will aim to identify predictors and consequences of homelessness in Northern Ireland using linked housing and health and social care data.

This retrospective cohort study will use a nested matched cohort design to (a) identify predictors of experiencing homelessness and (b) to compare health outcomes among people who were registered as homeless to those who have not been registered as homeless. We will use anonymized social housing and healthcare data in the regional trusted research environment in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. We will conduct descriptive analyses to inspect trends in homelessness, and investigate risk factors for key outcomes. To create control groups for our primary analysis, we will use propensity score matching of controls to cases. As a sensitivity analysis, we will also conduct self-controlled case series analysis.

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This study will aim to identify predictors and consequences of homelessness in Northern Ireland using linked housing and health and social care data. The ability to identify this population in administrative data is critical in the assessment and management of the health and social care needs, and monitoring the progress of such efforts.

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