Improving Health and Housing Outcomes for Those Experiencing Chronic Homelessness in Calgary
Recommendation 1 - Better Access to Health Services on Front Lines
Access to health services should be available through the entire homeless system of care including shelter, supportive housing, and mobile outreach.
- Sustainable funding for multi-disciplinary health teams integrated into shelters, housing, and correctional services;
- Increased capacity for health and medical supports in shelters and mobile outreach for homeless Calgarians awaiting transition to housing;
- Increased capacity for mobile medical and dental supports, including mobile palliative care programming;
- Establishing a discharge planning process with Alberta Health Services, local hospitals, justice, and local shelters, and piloting step-down care for homeless Calgarians;
- The re-purposing of existing long-term care facilities or shelters for end of life care and/or transitional care;
- Support for a community health centre model in shelters that provides team-based care and addresses the social barriers to health faced by homeless individuals;
- Increased efforts to attach homeless individuals to a ‘health home’ to increase continuity of care, in alignment with the Alberta Primary Health Care Strategy.