Public Affairs Professors Study the Impact of COVID-19 on Individuals Experiencing Homelessness
Dr. Shawn Flanigan and Dr. Megan Welsh have been conducting research to explore the decision-making process of individuals experiencing homelessness around accepting or declining public services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April 2020, Professors Megan Welsh and Shawn Flanigan received a grant from the University of California Tobacco Related-Disease Research Program’s Emergency COVID-19 Research Seed Funding for a project seeking to better understand the experiences of individuals experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the project, Drs. Welsh and Flanigan used web-based and mobile phone text messaging technology to conduct surveys with 311 individuals. These data were supplemented by oral and written interviews with nearly 60 individuals experiencing homelessness, conducted by phone, Zoom, and e-mail. The data collection strategies focused on individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness in San Diego to better understand their survival strategies and service utilization patterns during the ongoing pandemic of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes, COVID-19.
The project seeks to provide valuable insights to local governments and social service agencies on unsheltered individuals’ experiences related to several critical issues. One goal is to better understand individuals’ decision-making processes when accepting or declining services such as emergency shelter, health and mental health care, food, and financial assistance.
Related to this is an effort to better understand whether services are accepted voluntarily, or if individuals feel coerced to accept services (e.g., by law enforcement). The project also aims to clarify decision-making and survival strategies regarding where to stay if declining emergency shelter, and levels of access to sanitation and hygiene facilities for people who have remained unsheltered during the pandemic.
Drs. Welsh and Flanigan have been assisted by Paola Diaz de Regules (Dual Master of Public Administration and Master of Latin American Studies student), Nicolas Gutierrez III (Master of Criminal Justice and Criminology student), Keyera Johnson (BS in Criminal Justice alumna), Rebecca Riddle (Master of Criminal Justice and Criminology student), and Jieun Song (BA in Public Administration alumna). These students have gained valuable experience in navigating the challenges of human subjects research during a time when it is unsafe to meet face to face with research participants. Student assistants have helped with instrument design, data collection, and data analysis.
While data analysis is ongoing, Drs. Welsh and Flanigan presented preliminary results of the study at the San Diego Housing Federation conference in October 2020. The early results show important vulnerabilities for individuals experiencing homelessness when navigating the public health crisis.
For more information and updates on this project and related research, please visit hss.sdsu.edu.
The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.