Older homelessness in point-in-time counts: Out of sight, out of sample.


Carolyn Horwood, University of Calgary

Following implementation of the 10-year plan to end homelessness in Calgary in 2008, Calgary homelessness had decreased by 26% in the year 2016 (Turner and Krecsy, 2019). In the same year, older shelter use in the city of Calgarys largest shelter had increased from 6% in 2001 to 39% in 2016 (J Rowland, personal communication of internal data, Calgary Drop-In and Resource Centre). The most recent point-in-time (PiT) count in Calgary indicates that the percentage of older persons experiencing homelessness (OPEH) aged 45+ had decreased from 43.6% of all persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) in 2018 to only 26.3% in 2022 (Calgary Homeless Foundation, 2022). This contrasts national reporting by Dionne et al. (2023) reporting that the number of OPEH experiencing homelessness across Canada increased from 61.2% of all PEH in 2018 to 66.6% in 2021. Moreover, a 2021 study suggested that older shelter users were the only age demographic to demonstrate a significant increase in shelter access over the past two decades - comprising 24% of shelter users across Canada (Humphries and Canham, 2021). This is of particular concern as older people are known to experience hidden homelessness: staying temporarily with friends or family; living in financially unsustainable rentals, or settings with inadequate supports; or residing hospital long after acute care needs have been met, awaiting suitable community placement (Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness). Confidence in enumeration of older people in homeless counts is important for system planning, especially in light of the unique health challenges that face OPEH, who often experience geriatric health conditions up to 20 years earlier than the general population (CSH and Hearth, Inc., 2011; McDonald et al., 2009; Tsai and Alarcón, 2022). Unfortunately, PiT counts enumerating OPEH are inconsistent in definition, and the methods for undergoing PiT counts in Canadian cities are largely non-standardized (Hay et al., 2023). Canadian intra-city PiT count methods vary year-to-year, impacting comparisons of the number of OPEH over time. For example, the 2016 Calgary PiT count was performed in October, while the 2018 count was conducted in April – potentially creating a discrepancy in the number of individuals counted due to PEH migrating to warmer cities prior to the October count in anticipation of the city’s cold winter season (Calgary Homeless Foundation, 2018; Campbell et al., 2016). Further, PiT counts likely undercount OPEH due to the exclusion of comprehensive reporting of OPEH in hospital settings, OPEH unable to access traditional shelter services due to mobility or health limitations, and OPEH that are unsuitably or precariously housed (Hay et al., 2023). Older people living in poverty with serious mental illness including addiction are at particular risk of housing precarity as they may be ineligible for, or decline, in-home supports and lose their housing due to lease non-renewal (Carter, 2010; Crane and Warnes, 2000). PiT counts that occur on a single night thus risk undercounting individuals accessing shelters as a part of a cycle of accessing unstable or unsuitable housing, then subsequently losing supports and housing and utilizing shelter supports short-term (Carter, 2010; Tsai et al., 2020). The current project utilizes a case study methodology building on existing work exploring the experiences of aging for OPEH and a recent systems and policy analysis by Hay et al. (2023). The present case study evaluates existing PiT counts across Alberta, current literature, community and policy reports, key informant interviews, and knowledge-exchange based community consultation to inform future mixed-methods investigation into improved definition, enumeration, and service needs of OPEH. Subsequently, this paper explores interventions for effectively counting OPEH, such as partnerships with alternative level of care programs in provincial health services systems and extended term shelter surveys to aid in identifying precariously housed OPEH. Finally, the proposed solutions will be paired with an analysis of policy implications, exploring how current policies in the province of Alberta may prevent OPEH from accessing homelessness supports.

Non-presenting authors: Emma Mierau, University of Calgary; Lynn Nixon, University of Calgary

This paper will be presented at the following session: