The School Clinic Morley Street Brighton BN2 9DH
The School Clinic Morley Street Brighton BN2 9DH
Our 2024 Homeless Health conference took place on 9th October 2024, at the Clarendon Centre in Brighton. Topics ranged from First Aid for substance misuse to Respiratory conditions and Housing Law. Over 120 people attended, representing a range of organisations. The day provided opportunities to learn, connect and recharge.
This event was created in consultation with the Brighton and Hove Common Ambition Steering Group of people with lived experience of homelessness. The group kindly provided this year’s participant wellbeing guide, which was included in the programmes, and provided a blueprint for making this our most accessible and inclusive conference yet.
Scroll down to look through all the talk outlines from the day. Slides are available where we have been given permission to share them. If you have any questions. please do not hesitate to contact us.
If you’d like to hear more about future Arch events, please follow us on Eventbrite, or our social channels for dates of future conferences and bite size tutorials on homeless health. Our next event, on 31st January 2025, is a showcase for people wishing to hear more about us, in order to establish or further develop a specialist homeless health service in their area. Please get in touch if you’d like to hear more about this event.
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The aim of this talk is to support delegates who have clients facing housing problems. It will explain standard terminology and timelines, what steps their clients should take and who they should make referrals to.
Content Warning: The talk will be discussing homelessness and evictions. Case studies may be upsetting for people who have experienced homelessness and domestic abuse will also be mentioned within the context of housing.
Speaker: Edel Crowley, Lawstop
The aim of this interactive session is to equip you with the tools to identify, engage and provide effective initial support to someone who is actively thinking about suicide within the context of homelessness. This session will include the use of Mentimeter, an interactive platform that allows attendees to contribute to the session and discussion anonymously if they wish.
Content warning: We know that suicide can be a difficult topic and recommend you set aside time for self-care and reflection before and after the session. The facilitator won’t ask anyone to share personal experiences, though the training may bring up things for you that relate to your own life, or that are uncomfortable. Ahead of the training it is recommended that you:
• Consider who you can talk to if you find the session content to be distressing
• Be aware of safeguarding and referral/escalation policies and procedures in your organisation
• Be aware of well-being policies and any sources of mental health and well-being support in your workplace e.g. Employee Assistance Programme You can find an extensive list of support resources on our Stay Alive app, available for you or anyone you are worried about: www.stayalive.app/find-help-now.
Speaker: Agnes Munday, Grassroots Suicide Prevention
A summary of learnings from the Changing Futures programme including peer support work, trauma-informed care and the bigger picture.
Content warning: The session will include case study information regarding substance misuse, domestic violence, mental health, criminal justice and homelessness. There will be discussion of system barriers that prevent patients / clients from accessing appropriate services.
Speakers: Louise Patmore, Martin Powell, Renee Dickenson, Danielle Ralph, Changing Futures Sussex
This session will explore the pressing issue of youth homelessness, focusing on the challenges faced by young people in Brighton & Hove who are either experiencing homelessness or are at risk due to factors such as family breakdown, domestic abuse, poverty or persecution in their home countries. Attendees will gain an understanding of the current support pathways available and insights into this demographic, along with our vision for enhancing the support systems. Led by the YMCA DownsLink Group, the workshop will feature real-life case studies from members of the Brighton & Hove Youth Homelessness Working Group, offering a comprehensive look at the local landscape and opportunities for positive change.
Content warning: This session may include topics and case studies relating to youth homelessness, family relationship breakdown, mental health (potentially including suicidal ideation and self harm), criminal and sexual exploitation, and substance misuse.
Speakers: Thomas Palser, YMCA DownsLink Group,
This is a collaborative, interactive session led by people with experience of homelessness alongside Cllr Paul Nann and system leaders. There will be a space for delegates to input into discussions around a homeless hub for the city.
Content warning: This session focuses on homelessness.
Speakers: Brighton and Hove Common Ambition Lived Experience Steering Group & Cllr Paul Nann
The aim of this session is to review the development of Housing and Homelessness Services for LGBTQ+ people in Brighton and Hove and to share learning from the process to date. We will explore why it is so important for LGBTQ+ specific services to be developed and give a specific focus on engagement with key stakeholders throughout the process, including those with lived experience.
Content warning: there will be discussion around LGBTQ+ homelessness, oppression and discrimination and some of the specific challenges these communities face.
Speaker: Steven McIntyre, Stonewall Housing
This talk will introduce the Mentalising for Men’s Group which is held in primary care. The workshop will briefly summarise the theory and techniques of Mentalisation-Based Therapy (MBT) and detail some preliminary findings from group evaluation. We will consider how some MBT techniques may be used by untrained professionals in their day-to-day practice.
Content warning: there may be some case study examples and all men in the group have significant trauma histories.
Speakers: Gabriel Schnitzer & Deirdre Fuller, SPFT
An interactive multi-disciplinary workshop, focusing on sharing learning about how best to protect people’s lung health over winter. Topics will include lung problems over-represented in people experiencing homelessness, red flags needing action, winter viruses, lung health checks, vaccinations and smoking harm reduction strategies. The session will include case discussion, top tips, and a question and answer session. The facilitators have experience of frontline support work, specialist TB care, general practice, and addiction management. They will draw on learning from Groundswell’s peer led respiratory research.
Speakers: Gregg Lock and Kate Pitt, Arch Health
This session will explore the impact of homelessness on women’s health – looking at this through the lens of hormones, cycles and seasons. Exploring questions of how homelessness can affect the menstrual cycle, impact reproductive health and ending with the later season of menopause. Why does this matter? Come and hear more, a space to explore the health impacts specific to women and people with ovaries…
Speakers: Natalie Lewin and Ruth Reilly, Arch Health
The aim of this talk is to support delegates to be prepared if their client is experiencing delusions or hallucinations. It will seek to give them a framework to understand what might be causing these symptoms and how to approach getting them the help they may need.
Content warning: this talk will provide detail on mental health conditions, and possible causes for these (so discussion of trauma, and exacerbating conditions that may contribute to delusions and hallucinations). Case studies will also cover potentially upsetting situations as they are based closely on real people’s stories.
Speaker: Tim Worthley, Arch Health
The session sets out to explore the complexities of co-occurring conditions and will cover:
• Defining co-occurring conditions, prevalence, causes, implications and challenges.
• Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust approach and developments.
• Emerging themes.
• Assessment, care planning/onward referral and joint working.
• Practical advice.
Content warning: The talk will discuss mental health issues, substance use, physical health problems, suicide prevalence and some of the challenges accessing appropriate treatment for this client group.
Speaker: Becky Marshall, Dual Diagnosis Nurse Consultant, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
This presentation by Dr Matthew O’Brien, Consultant Psychiatrist Brighton & Hove Addictions Service, will look at what substances are commonly used locally, how people present when using various substances, and what it looks like when they are needing emergency assistance and what first aid to administer. This session will also consider what support there is for substitution therapy/harm reduction.
Speaker: Dr Matthew O’Brien, CGL
Jodie Crossman is a Specialist Sexual health Nurse working in Brighton. In this session Jodie will be looking at common sexually transmitted infections, how prevalent they are locally and what treatments are available. Jodie will also be looking at specific issues that people experiencing homelessness may have in accessing screening and treatment.
Speaker: Jodie Crossman – Brighton SHAC
The aim of the presentation is to explain how community teams working collaboratively with hospital teams result in better outcomes for the patients involved. As a outcome of this work the patients are having their health managed better and avoiding further crisis related hospital presentations and admissions. It also shows how housing specialists and clinicians working together results in more appropriate housing/accommodation placements.
Content warning: The case study may upset people who have been cuckooed or who have/are experiencing alcohol use in excess.
Speakers: Katie Carter, Pathway homeless team (hospital) and Caterina Speight, Homeless Health Inclusion team (HHIT)
Mags, Zoe and Vikki are specialists in liver care in Brighton. They will present on current issues in liver disease, local services and access to treatment for people at risk of liver disease or with hepatitis C. After years of targeted work to engage people with hepatitis C into treatment the team will be looking at the risks of reinfection and looking at harm reduction.
Content warning: this talk may be upsetting for people who have had personal experience in relation to end stage liver disease.
Speakers: Mags O’Sullivan – CNS Hepatology; Zoe Yates-Peer – HCV Trust; Vikki Charles – RSCH liver clinic
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