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Journal of Human Rights Practice Advance Access originally published online on April 6, 2009
Journal of Human Rights Practice 2009 1(2):257-276; doi:10.1093/jhuman/hup004
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© The Author (2009). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Sites for Health Rights: the Experiences of Homeless Families in England

Maria Stuttaford

Institute of Health
School of Health and Social Studies
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
UK
Email: maria.stuttaford{at}warwick.ac.uk

Gillian Lewando Hundt

Institute of Health
School of Health and Social Studies
University of Warwick

Panos Vostanis

Greenwood Institute of Child Health
University of Leicester


  Abstract

This paper explores non-legal spaces in which the right to health is invoked. Consideration is given to the potential for creating spaces in which people who are mobile can access health care services, as well as engage with services and activities related to the underlying determinants of health in order to overcome inequities in health. The aims of the research were to explore: service user and provider perceptions of the right to health; the role of individual and collective agency in a partnership approach to health; and the development of a framework of sites for health rights. Interviews and participatory diagramming and visualization were conducted with service users and providers and participant observation was undertaken at two hostels. It was found that there needs to be greater clarity of entitlements for service users as well as responsibilities for those with a duty to protect, respect, and fulfil the right to health. As public space becomes more regulated, hostels are becoming one of the few places which homeless people can transform to use as sites for addressing violations of health rights, for self-advocating for health rights, and for engaging with services advocating on their behalf. It is necessary to ensure that spaces in which the right to health can be invoked are acceptable and appropriate to those who seek to claim the right to health in these spaces. Where the spaces are unacceptable or inappropriate, the spaces can become sites against rights, rather than sites for rights.

Keywords: Health, hostels, partnerships, rights, space


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