Frontiers in global women's health · 2026
Help me, and I'll help myself (and others). A narrative inquiry into older women's experiences of health and homelessness.
СтатьяНазвание и аннотация: Перевод пока не подготовлен
Обработка статьи · этапы, ошибки и управление
Загрузка состояния…
Ошибки и ограничения
История · было → стало
Состояние обновляется каждые 5 секунд, пока блок открыт. Процент показывается только там, где известен объём работы. Пауза останавливает продолжение этапа; текущий запрос к источнику может завершиться.
Nixon Lara, Boyling Elaine, Mierau Emma, Hughes Rebecca, Ugburo-Shanomi Jeuel, Kelly Martina
Аннотация
BACKGROUND: While women's homelessness is increasingly recognized as a gendered issue, experiences of aging while homeless remain underexplored. This study examined how older women navigate intersections of aging, health, and homelessness, focusing on how these experiences are shaped by structural and social factors.
METHODS: Women's lived experiences were explored and interpreted using a narrative approach. Eleven women (aged 57-65 years) took part in two in-depth interviews each, followed by participation in three sequential focus groups. Data were analyzed iteratively informed by Riessman's thematic and structural narrative analysis. Focus groups served as collaborative spaces to provide feedback on initial interpretations and deepen understanding of experiences across social and structural contexts. Co-constructed storylines and composite narratives are presented of participants' re-structured experiences.
FINDINGS: Two main storylines were identified and supported the development of an overarching counter narrative. The first, 'Hurry up and Wait', describes the tension women felt within bureaucratic systems that appeared to offer assistance but were experienced as burdensome and disempowering. Shelters and temporary housing were depicted as unsafe and detrimental to health, including hampering their ability to maintain family relationships. The second storyline, 'Making lemonade', reflects women's agency in managing their health and supporting each other. Despite systemic marginalization, women kept meaningful connections with friends, family, and community, which were a vital form of social capital.
CONCLUSION: In dominant discourses on homelessness, women's experiences are often hidden and seen through stigmatizing views. This study shows how older women competently navigate complex systems and resist this characterization, creating networks and using caregiving roles to provide mutual support. We propose this labor as a previously unrecognized form of social capital through which women who are homeless affirm their worth and support one another.
METHODS: Women's lived experiences were explored and interpreted using a narrative approach. Eleven women (aged 57-65 years) took part in two in-depth interviews each, followed by participation in three sequential focus groups. Data were analyzed iteratively informed by Riessman's thematic and structural narrative analysis. Focus groups served as collaborative spaces to provide feedback on initial interpretations and deepen understanding of experiences across social and structural contexts. Co-constructed storylines and composite narratives are presented of participants' re-structured experiences.
FINDINGS: Two main storylines were identified and supported the development of an overarching counter narrative. The first, 'Hurry up and Wait', describes the tension women felt within bureaucratic systems that appeared to offer assistance but were experienced as burdensome and disempowering. Shelters and temporary housing were depicted as unsafe and detrimental to health, including hampering their ability to maintain family relationships. The second storyline, 'Making lemonade', reflects women's agency in managing their health and supporting each other. Despite systemic marginalization, women kept meaningful connections with friends, family, and community, which were a vital form of social capital.
CONCLUSION: In dominant discourses on homelessness, women's experiences are often hidden and seen through stigmatizing views. This study shows how older women competently navigate complex systems and resist this characterization, creating networks and using caregiving roles to provide mutual support. We propose this labor as a previously unrecognized form of social capital through which women who are homeless affirm their worth and support one another.