Data Insight: Mental health and homelessness: The lived experience perspective

New lived experience research shows mental ill-health was highest among people who met the criteria for statutory homelessness support in Northern Ireland, but was also high among those who applied but did not meet the criteria. People meeting the criteria were eight times more likely to receive prescriptions related to substance use.

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This Lived Experience Data Insight looks at the mental health of people who applied for homelessness assistance from statutory housing services in Northern Ireland in 2019. Overall, mental ill-health was highest among people who met the official criteria for homelessness support, but levels were also high among people who asked for housing but did not meet the criteria. Mental health-related medication was much more common among people experiencing homelessness. Antidepressants were the most prescribed mental health medication.

People who applied for homelessness assistance and did meet the criteria for support were eight times more likely to receive prescriptions related to substance use. One in every 50 people in the study experienced homelessness. This Data Insight was written by people with lived experience of homelessness, who are part of the Homeless Connect Echoes of Home lived experience advisory group, an ADR NI research partner, with the purpose of sharing research findings in an accessible way and saying, in their own words, what needs to change.

What we did

Researchers linked homelessness presentation data with health data for the population of Northern Ireland. They then looked at who received at least three prescriptions for a medication for a mental health-related problem during 2019. People were grouped into one of three different categories, based on their homelessness status.

Why it matters

Homelessness and mental health problems are closely linked and are important issues. This study found that mental ill-health was highest among people who met the official criteria for homelessness support, but levels were also high among people who asked for housing but did not meet the criteria, pointing to unmet need among a group who may otherwise be overlooked. The finding that people who applied for homelessness assistance and did meet the criteria for support were eight times more likely to receive prescriptions related to substance use further underlines the scale of the challenges facing this group. Because this Data Insight is written by people with lived experience of homelessness, who often feel that their voices don't matter, it also carries key messages, in their own words, about what needs to change.