Working with: Dr. Stephen Hwang

Dr. Jesse Jenkinson is a MAP postdoctoral fellow. Jesse’s research examines the social determinants of health (SDOH), specifically the ways the health of people experiencing homelessness is influenced by multiple SDOH. Recently, her work has focused on strategies to improve health services and the integration of health and social systems for people experiencing homelessness. Over the last 10 years Dr. Jenkinson has worked on issues of HIV stigma, access to healthcare for marginalized populations, and women’s empowerment. Dr. Jenkinson holds a CIHR-CMHC Fellowship in Research and Knowledge Translation in Urban Housing and Health. She received her PhD in Public Health from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and her MSc in Health, Community and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

My PhD sought to explain how and why the hospital discharge process for people experiencing homelessness remains inadequate, inefficient and inequitable. In order to do this, I conducted a critical qualitative study, contextualizing the discharge process and identifying key mechanisms that make the hospital discharge process challenging. By identifying the mechanisms that create these challenges, we can develop interventions to improve the discharge process and post-hospital care for these patients.

As part of my postdoctoral fellowship, I am working on two studies. The first is a mixed methods process evaluation of The Navigator Program, an innovative modified critical time intervention in which a homeless outreach counsellor supports people experiencing homelessness in the hospital and post-hospitalization. Their role is to help people connect with primary care providers and other health and social services, and to support them in meeting their holistic needs.

The second study is a qualitative sub-study to the COVENANT cohort study, led by Dr. Hwang. The COVENANT cohort study will determine the prevalence and incidence of COVID-19 among people experiencing homelessness in Toronto. This qualitative sub-study will explore, in-depth, opinions towards the COVID-19 vaccine in this population, reasons for vaccine hesitancy, and co-develop strategies to address barriers to and improve vaccine uptake with participants.

Jenkinson, J.I.R., Strike, C., Hwang, S., and Di Ruggiero, E. (preprint). Nowhere to go: exploring the social and economic influences on discharging people experiencing homelessness to appropriate destinations in Toronto, Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health.

Jenkinson, J.I.R., Strike, C., Hwang, S., and Di Ruggiero, E. (2021) Legal, geographic and organizational contexts that shape knowledge sharing in the hospital discharge process for people experiencing homelessness in Canada. Health and Social Care in the Community (http://doi/10.1111/hsc.13206)

Jenkinson, J., Wheeler, A., Wong, C., Mussells Pires, L. (2020) Hospital discharge planning for people experiencing homelessness: a neglected issue. Discussion and Debate, Healthcare Policy, 16(1):14-21.

Schwan, K., Versteegh, A., Perri, M., Caplan, R., Baig, K., Dej, E., Jenkinson, J., Brais, H., Eiboff, F., & Pahlevan Chaleshtari, T. (2020). The State of Women’s Housing Need & Homelessness in Canada. Hache, A., Nelson, A., Kratochvil, E., & Malenfant, J. (Eds). Toronto, ON: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press. (Authored Chapter 12: Healthcare)

Logie, C., Dias, L., Jenkinson, J., Newman, P., MacKenzie, R., Mothopeng, T., Madau, V., Ranotsi, V., Nhlengethwa, W., and Baral, S. (2018) Exploring the potential of participatory theatre to reduce stigma and promote health equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Swaziland and Lesotho. Health Education and Behavior, doi: 10.1177/1090198118760682.

Logie, C., Perez-Bumer, A., Jenkinson, J., Madau, V., Nhlengethwa, W., and Baral, S. (2018) AIDS Impact Special Issue: Marginalization and social change processes among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in Swaziland: Implications for HIV prevention. AIDS Care, 30(S2):33-40, doi: 10.1080/09540121.2018.1468011

Logie, C., Jenkinson, Jesse I.R., Earnshaw, V., Tharao, W., and Loutfy, M. (2016) A structural equation model of HIV-related stigma and wellbeing among African and Caribbean Black Women Living with HIV in Ontario, Canada. PLoS ONE 11(9): e0162826. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162826.

Research Projects

A qualitative exploration of vaccine uptake and hesitancy

Dr. Jesse Jenkinson, Dr. Stephen Hwang

Navigator Project

Dr. Stephen Hwang

News

Researcher says Halifax modular units require social supports for residents

Featuring: Dr. Jesse Jenkinson, Global News, October 10, 2021

New data shows that homelessness is a women’s rights issue

Featuring: Dr. Jesse Jenkinson, The Conversation, October 4, 2021

Opinion: The solution to homeless encampments is making them unnecessary, not illegal

Featuring: Dr. Jesse Jenkinson, Dr. Stephen Hwang, The Conversation, September 22, 2021