COPING DURING COVID-19: THE CHALLENGES AND RESILIENCIES OF SINGAPORE’S HOMELESS POPULATION DURING THE PANDEMIC

Abstract

Persons experiencing homelessness have been identified as a population that is especially vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While this is so, their increased help-seeking behaviour during the pandemic presents us with a valuable window of opportunity to learn, act and leverage on their strengths. However, there is limited research about the population’s ability to cope during crises. This study aims to understand how persons experiencing homelessness in Singapore coped with the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis will be done in three areas: (1) Needs and challenges that have arisen, (2) Factors contributing to their resiliencies, and (3) Role and sufficiency of community services. Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 persons experiencing homelessness, guided by the Human Scale Development framework. Transcripts were then analysed using thematic analysis. Findings reveal that many needs of the population were inadequately satisfied. Increased enforcement by uniformed personnel compromised on the population’s freedom and subsistence needs, and lower educated persons were disproportionately challenged due to poorer health literacy. Despite these challenges, the study found several adaptive capacities of the homeless population. This includes the ability to modify the ways they satisfied their needs, and adoption of differentiated identities by employed persons to form in-groups. In light of these findings, social workers and policy makers can prioritise preventive services and promote cross-sector collaboration between the health and social service sectors. This thesis also makes recommendations to revise the HSD framework to include digital literacy.