THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF HOMELESSNESS IN LATER LIFE: UNIQUE VULNERABILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES

An increasing number of older adults are facing both eviction and experiencing homelessness. In comparison to younger persons, older adults face unique challenges and barriers to housing and services and so insight into the specific needs and opportunities for this population are essential. This symposium will include presentations from a group of interdisciplinary researchers representing multiple perspectives across the Social Research, Policy and Practice and Behavioral and Social Sciences Research sections. The symposium will begin with an examination of experiences of displacement among low-income older adults in Detroit. A second presentation will report findings from a qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis that describe systemic failings that influence the risk for homelessness in late life as well as coping mechanisms and survival behaviors of homeless older adults. Third, a presentation will review findings from in-depth interviews with housing and healthcare providers and persons with lived experience who identified health and social supports needed by homeless older adults in Metro Vancouver following hospital discharge. A fourth presentation will describe the use of participatory action research to understand barriers to housing for older adults as well as resources for addressing homelessness in New York City. Finally, using an intersectional lens, a fifth presentation will describe the unique life histories and trauma experiences of older African-American homeless women in Charlotte, North Carolina. To conclude this symposium, an international scholar with extensive experience in homelessness research with older adults will summarize these individual papers and discuss implications of this research for policy and practice in North America.