Homeless Connect: Community Analysis

Community Service Learning: Homeless Connect 2018

Project Homeless Connect - Health and Wellness 2018 opened my eyes to an increasing epidemic in the United States. Homelessness is a social problem that can be challenging for health care providers (Nickasch & Marnocha, 2009). Homeless Connect was a civic engagement event, in which civic engagement is defined as a desire to work toward making a difference in the civic life of a community and to develop the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation needed to make that difference (Maloney, Myers, & Bazyk, 2014). This event showed my classmates and me how to work with a population of individuals who have medical, as well as other needs, but may not have the resources to address

Being homeless can affect an individual’s ability and opportunities to participate in community and normal or desired occupational roles, such as work. As an occupational therapist, we can improve homeless individuals’ quality of life and mental health by giving them the opportunity to participate in meaningful occupations again (Thomas, Gray, & McGinty, 2011). The main areas that would greatly benefit from being addressed by occupational therapists would be employment, education, money management, coping skills, finding affordable housing, and developing leisure skills. Occupational therapists can work with this population on an individual basis or in a group setting to address different focuses, such as assertive communication, cognition, independent living skills, stress management, and wellness (Scaffa & Reitz 2014). After volunteering at events like Homeless Connect I learned I am helping this population receive occupational justice, hopefully giving them the means to participate in meaningful occupations. Occupational therapy practitioners can take on an advocate’s role in order to promote occupational justice and to empower clients ‘‘to seek and obtain resources to fully participate in their daily life occupations” (Maloney, Myers, & Bazyk, 2014). Another area that would be beneficial to know when working with this population are their thoughts on health care. Emerging roles in

Also, it would be beneficial to know more about their thoughts on health care. This can include barriers on why homeless individuals do not seek health care services, which can include lack of attainment of physical needs, affordability, resources, and compassion of healthcare providers ((Nickasch & Marnocha, 2009). This was my first time really working with homeless individuals that were seeking medical services, so I really did not know what to expect. During this event, I was overwhelmed by the feeling that I truly want to continue working with this population, and advocate for continue resources and events, like Homeless Connect, to help improve their quality of life. Overall, Homeless Connect was an educational and rewarding experience and benefited everyone that was