This LibGuide is designed to support St Vincent's Hospital Health Independence Program (HIP) staff to help improve the quality of life for marginalised people, who are often the most vulnerable in our community.
In line with its Mission,Values and Vision, St Vincent's Health Australia reaches out to some of the most vulnerable people in the Australian community, including those living with mental illness, experiencing addiction, people who are socially and financially disadvantaged, and particularly those experiencing homelessness. St Vincent's commitment to the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our community, is demonstrated by the provision of compassionate and innovative care, enabling hope for those served.
St Vincent's Health Independence Program delivers a coordinated, integrated and interdisciplinary health and support service with a single plan of care. Clients are enabled to be the decision makers of their care, whilst being supported through self-management to achieve their healthcare goals. This accessible program is well recognised and strongly linked to the local community and service sector. This approach enhances the client experience and improves their health, wellbeing and independence.
https://www.svhm.org.au/health-professionals/aged-and-community-care/health-independence-program
Stigma and prejudice : touchstones in understanding diversity in healthcare by 
Poverty has been around as a feature of societies for a long time. Maybe this is the reason that it seems to be merely accepted as "the way things are" in public discourse.
In Australia, three million people including one in six children live in economic poverty. Yet, the weight of these numbers doesn't seem to translate to urgent action by governments to address the issue. This may be because there is fatigue from hearing about the issue so often, a disbelief that poverty actually exists, or a lack of empathy for those living in poverty. Adapted from: https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/housing/who-we-are
As part of St Vincent's Hospital's enVision2025 focus on five populations who live in poverty and with vulnerability, there is a renewed committment to help: the homeless, those who are marginalised because of mental health conditions, the drug and alcohol addicted and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people and people in prisons, .
"There is an opportunity of seeing something greater in the years ahead by growing this mission".
Chamberlain and Mackenzie's "cultural definition" identifies assumed shared community standards about the minimum housing that people have the right to expect, in order to live according to the conventions and expectations of a particular culture. The definition identifies those groups that fall below the minimum community standard.
The minimum community standard is a small rental flat - with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom and an element of security of tenure - because that is the minimum that most people achieve in the private rental market. However, the minimum is significantly below the culturally desired option of an owner-occupied house.
While it is true that the concepts of 'housed' and 'homeless' constitute a continuum of circumstances, there are three situations that fall below the community standard. This leads to the identification of 'primary', 'secondary' and 'tertiary' homelessness and the 'marginally housed'. (Chamberlain and Mackenzie, 1992, p.291). Taken from the ABS website: https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4922.0Appendix32012opendocument&tabname=
Notes&prodno=4922.0&issue=2012&num=&view=
Primary homelessness describes the situation of all people without conventional accommodation, such as people living on the streets, sleeping in parks, squatting in derelict buildings, living in improvised dwellings (such as sheds, garages or cabins), and using cars or railway carriages for temporary shelter. Secondary homelessness describes the situation of people who move frequently from one form of temporary shelter to another. On census night, all people staying in emergency or transitional accommodation provided under the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) are considered part of this category. Secondary homelessness also includes people residing temporarily with other households because they have no accommodation of their own, and people staying in boarding houses on a short-term basis, operationally defined as 12 weeks or less.Tertiary homelessness describes the situation of people who live in boarding houses on a medium to long-term basis, operationally defined as 13 weeks or longer. Residents of private boarding houses are homeless because their accommodation does not have the characteristics identified in the minimum community standard (Chamberlain and MacKenzie 1992): they do not have a separate bedroom and living room; they do not have kitchen and bathroom facilities of their own; their accommodation is not self-contained; and they do not have security of tenure provided by a lease. Taken from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/housing-assistance/counting-homeless-2006-victoria/contents/summary
The Big Issue is a not-for-profit social enterprise that develops solutions to help homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged people positively change their lives.
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For corporate subscription enquiries, contact Simone Busija at The Big Issue: sbusija@bigissue.org.au or 9663 4533.
Email: library.svhmlibrary@svha.org.au
Phone: 9231 2540
Carl de Gruchy Library
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Last updated: 1 Oct 2019
