Hope in homeless people: a phenomenological study

Abstract

This study attempted to elucidate the meaning of hope as it occurred in the lived experience of seven homeless people residing in a cold weather shelter and to identify strategies that are used to maintain hope. It adopted a hermeneutic, phenomenological method and produced an emerging theory comprised of five key themes. These were: expectancy with hope experienced as future imagined reality, a way out of present difficulties and concretely linked to having one's own home; connectedness perceived as a meaningful relationship between self and others (family, friends and the shelter) which sustained hope; view from the street experienced as a dichotomy between hope/joy and hopelessness/despair; emotionalism expressed as a barrage of varied and often conflicting emotional states which either strengthened or depleted hope and brokenness described as a feeling of being worn down and drained of energy due to the constant struggle for survival in harsh conditions on the street, which weakened hope. The study provided a clearer understanding of the meaning of hope from a homeless person's point of view. At the end it ponders the possible implications for primary health care nursing.