People receiving specialist homelessness services support in the last year of life
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Case study
Strategic goal 1 – A trusted leader in health and welfare data and analysis
The AIHW undertook a national analysis to understand how people supported by specialist homelessness and drug and alcohol services engage with other aspects of the health system in their final year of life. The work involved linking data across homelessness, health and mortality records – an approach that allowed for a more complete view of service use among people facing complex disadvantage.
The foundational report detailed mortality among people receiving specialist homelessness services in their last year of life. The analysis focused on death rates and causes of death among those experiencing housing insecurity issues.
By integrating multiple data sources, the project revealed the impact of insecure housing on life expectancy. The report demonstrates how using linked data is invaluable for uncovering insights that are not visible in isolated data sets.
The approach supports more informed planning and policy development, especially for services working with people at risk of homelessness and poor health outcomes.