Exploring the lived experience of aging among older adults who are chronically homeless

Abstract

A rise in the number of older adults in Canada living longer and healthier lives has been lauded as a medical and public health success. In response, the Canadian government developed directives promoting healthy aging and aging in place. Missing from these directives is a subset of older adults, many of whom are entering homelessness later in life and are aging with chronic homelessness. While there is an increasing number of studies focusing on older adults who are homeless, there remains a dearth of scholarly literature on those experiencing chronic homelessness. Due to the lack of empirical data, it is challenging to devise solutions to address the healthcare, social support and housing gaps experienced by older adults who are homeless. The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological study was to explore the conceptualization of older adults who were chronically homeless, and their lived experiences related to aging. The study was guided by the social constructivism philosophical paradigm to more fully understand how the participants constructed and applied meaning to their lived experiences of the phenomenon. During 3 months of fieldwork, I met with 18 older adults who were chronically homeless and purposefully selected from study settings that provided homeless services. Data collection included semistructured interviews and unstructured observations. Through member checking, participants reviewed and confirmed their transcribed interview notes. The data were transcribed, summarized and analyzed using phenomenological analysis. Six significant themes and 21 related subthemes emerged from the data. The major themes included: (a) suddenly, everything gets taken away from you; (b) physiological and psychosocial changes in the past five years; (c) aging describes life; (d) COVID-19 changed everything; (e) experiences with healthcare and social services; and (f) participants recommendations to address current needs and fill healthcare, housing and social service gaps. Despite their desire to move out of the homeless shelters into permanent housing, participants were hampered by a lack of material and immaterial resources. Policymakers and decision-makers in healthcare, social services, and housing can utilize the findings to fill public policy and service gaps that contribute to and perpetuate homelessness among older adults.