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. 2023 Jun 24;20(13):6214.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20136214.

Staff Members' Experience of Italian Shelters for LGBTQIA+ Homeless and Runaway People: An Exploratory Study

Elena Tubertini  1 , Agostino Carbone  2   3 , Massimo Santinello  1
Affiliations

Staff Members' Experience of Italian Shelters for LGBTQIA+ Homeless and Runaway People: An Exploratory Study

Elena Tubertini et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Some LGBTQIA+ people, after coming out, experience marginalization and homelessness due to rejection and discrimination from their family and community. The increase in support requests led to the creation of LGBTQIA+ temporary shelter homes worldwide. This study aims to explore the functioning and effectiveness of shelters, analyzing the experiences of staff members in Italy.

Methods: Focus groups were held with a total of 15 staff members (age range: 32-53) working in three shelters for LGBTQIA+ people. Data were analyzed qualitatively through the grounded theory methodology.

Results: Data coding showed five final core categories: (1) user characteristics; (2) staff characteristics; (3) community relations; (4) activities carried out by services; (5) criteria for intervention assessment and staff satisfaction. Results revealed some criticalities in the effectiveness of these services, particularly the difficulty in achieving autonomy for users, a weakness attributable to the non-exhaustive training of staff members and the funding discontinuity.

Conclusion: To improve the efficacy of shelters, this study emphasizes the necessity to (a) carry out an analysis of the vulnerability of the local LGBTQIA+ community, (b) establish a stable network with local services (NHS system), and (c) implement staff members' psychological training.

Keywords: LGBTQIA+; health psychology; homeless services; psychological intervention; southern Europe.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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