Tag Era 2

Dennis Rogers was in the first tranche of peers trained in 2010. Dennis has been key in developing the role of the peer advocate. He has personally delivered over 500 engagements and helped design the ‘targeted advocacy’ intervention – this involves two specialist homeless GP practices passing on names of clients who are known to have significant health problems who are missing appointments. Using his own experiences of homelessness – as well as his experience of being a frontline hostel worker and a street outreach worker - Dennis seems uniquely able to locate people sleeping rough that others struggle to contact – and bring them in to (often life-saving) appointments.

Groundswell’s first significant peer intervention into health came with the TB Peer Education Project in 2009. Peers went out with the Find & Treat Mobile X-Ray Unit which parked up outside hostels and day centres across London, offering to screen people for TB. The majority of peer educators had been treated for TB themselves and used this experience to encourage people to step onto the van.

The Escape Plan is a piece of peer-led research created by Groundswell. Interviews were conducted by Andrew Campbell and Michael ‘Spike’ Hudson, both of whom are professional researchers who have personal experience of homelessness. This document was intended as a practical tool for homeless people to design their own escape plan. It was a product of the Escape Plan findings and an academic report also exists.

This training manual was part of a project which encouraged homeless individuals to utilise entrepreneurial skills in their journey out of homelessness. Peer presenters were trained to NVQ level to deliver this innovative initiative to groups and individuals in settings across the UK such as Big Issue Vendor meetings, day centres and other spaces.

This project responded to a need for better health services for homeless people. It explored how homeless people were being treated when they accessed hospitals and A&E. The project led to two pathways for homeless people to go through Accident and Emergency – rough sleepers and people experiencing other types of homelessness.