Addressing the needs of Ethiopia’s street homeless women of reproductive age in the health and social protection policy: a qualitative study

International Journal for Equity in Health

Research

Yemane Berhane¹  Hannah Bradby²  Mats Målqvist³  Sibylle Herzig van Wees⁴  Kalkidan Yohannes⁵ 

[1] Addis Continental Institute of Public Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;Department of Sociology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;SWEDESD- Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;SWEDESD- Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden;SWEDESD- Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;WOMHER- Women’s Mental Health During the Reproductive Lifespan, Interdisciplinary Research Center, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;Department of Psychiatry, College of Health and Medical Science, Dilla University, Dilla, Ethiopia;

关键词: Health;    Well-being;    Street homeless women;    Street homelessness;    Ethiopia;    Qualitative research;    Policy agenda;    Shiffman and Smith’s framework;    Political priority;    Low and Middle-Income Countries;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12939-023-01874-x

 received in 2022-10-25, accepted in 2023-03-24,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionGlobally, homelessness is a growing concern, and homeless women of reproductive age are particularly vulnerable to adverse physical, mental, and reproductive health conditions, including violence. Although Ethiopia has many homeless individuals, the topic has received little attention in the policy arena. Therefore, we aimed to understand the reason for the lack of attention, with particular emphasis on women of reproductive age.MethodsThis is a qualitative study; 34 participants from governmental and non-governmental organisations responsible for addressing homeless individuals’ needs participated in in-depth interviews. A deductive analysis of the interview materials was applied using Shiffman and Smith’s political prioritisation framework.ResultsSeveral factors contributed to the underrepresentation of homeless women’s health and well-being needs in the policy context. Although many governmental and non-governmental organisations contributed to the homeless-focused programme, there was little collaboration and no unifying leadership. Moreover, there was insufficient advocacy and mobilisation to pressure national leaders. Concerning ideas, there was no consensus regarding the definition of and solution to homeless women’s health and social protection issues. Regarding political contexts and issue characteristics, a lack of a well-established structure, a paucity of information on the number of homeless women and the severity of their health situations relative to other problems, and the lack of clear indicators prevented this issue from gaining political priority.ConclusionsTo prioritise the health and well-being of homeless women, the government should form a unifying collaboration and a governance structure that addresses the unmet needs of these women. It is imperative to divide responsibilities and explicitly include homeless people and services targeted for them in the national health and social protection implementation documents. Further, generating consensus on framing the problems and solutions and establishing indicators for assessing the situation is vital.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023