Joanne McGrath

Host university: Northumbria University

PhD research project: Access to services for women with multiple disadvantage: an intersectional analysis

Project summary: My research project is with women with experience of multiple exclusion (homelessness, substance misuse and poor mental health). As a relatively hidden population, women with these co-occurring issues are thought to actively avoid or struggle to engage with support and non-clinical services.

‘Single’ women, (those without dependents living with them) have less protection under law and fewer specific support systems than those with families.

I am working with partners in Gateshead to explore through a series of narrative interviews with 20 single women how their experiences of homelessness and multiple disadvantage within the wider social and political context can form a barrier to appropriate service provision.

Background and research interests: I worked frontline for the homeless charity Crisis for nine years, which is when I became interested in exploring how some people can fall through the gaps in service provision. In 2017 I successfully applied for a Churchill Fellowship which enabled me to spend three months in the USA and Norway researching best practice in avoiding repeat cycles on homelessness amongst prison leavers. My PhD builds on this research to explore how the system responds to people with multiple exclusion and how we can better identify those who are at risk.

Expected PhD completion date: Dec 2023

Contact: [email protected]