Health promotion efforts for people experiencing homelessness in England: A scoping review

People experiencing homelessness (PEH) encounter various obstacles in accessing healthcare, coupled with diverse health needs. This review aims to synthesize the evidence related to the health promotion actions among PEH and the barriers and facilitators they experience in accessing health-promoting information and services in England.

This scoping review adhered to the guidelines outlined in the Joanna Briggs Institute’s Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. A narrative synthesis approach was used to combine and provide a comprehensive overview of the results from the included literature in the review.

The results were grouped, synthesized, and presented under six themes: (i) Policy and interventions, (ii) Barriers, (iii) Facilitators, (iv) Engagement and coordination, (v) Personal skills and literacy, and (vi) Sensitization among service providers. The experiences of PEH highlighted the disparities in accessing health-promoting information and services, necessitating practical initiatives to facilitate their utilization of available health-promoting resources.