How Can Cities Tackle Hoarding? : Examining an Intervention Program Bringing Together Fire and Health Authorities in Vancouver

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

How Can Cities Tackle Hoarding? : Examining an Intervention Program Bringing Together Fire and Health Authorities in Vancouver Kysow, Kate; Bratiotis, Christiana; Lauster, Nathanael Thomas, 1972-; Woody, Sheila R.

Abstract

Hoarded homes can pose a threat to public safety, with heightened risks of fire hazards, pest infestations and noxious odours in both the home and neighbouring dwellings. Communities across North America are responding to these public safety concerns through a harm reduction approach. This descriptive study explores the implementation and outcomes of the City of Vancouver's approach involving a partnership between fire prevention and public health. Data were collected from the team's 2016–2018 case tracking systems, consisting of health records and team intervention record, as well as notes taken from case briefing meetings. Study objectives included describing the intervention model, providing descriptive statistics on clients and their clutter volume, the interventions undertaken, and exploring predictors of clutter volume and case outcome through exploratory analyses. The sample included 82 cases involving severely hoarded conditions or more moderate hoarding conditions paired with additional client vulnerabilities (e.g. health conditions, frailty). Results from paired samples t-tests and regression analysis, suggest the Hoarding Action Response Team's (HART) model of a community-based intervention for hoarding was associated with clutter reduction and tenancy preservation. HART successfully maintained engagement with most clients, and most cases were closed within six home visits. Despite these successes, the team dealt with several barriers including client avoidance and limited resources. This paper provides guidance for communities who are working to develop a coordinated response to problems associated with hoarding and begins to establish expectations for what can be achieved through a community-based hoarding intervention model.

Item Metadata

Title	How Can Cities Tackle Hoarding? : Examining an Intervention Program Bringing Together Fire and Health Authorities in Vancouver
Creator	Kysow, Kate; Bratiotis, Christiana; Lauster, Nathanael Thomas, 1972-; Woody, Sheila R.
Publisher	Wiley
Date Issued	2020-01-26
Description	Hoarded homes can pose a threat to public safety, with heightened risks of fire hazards, pest infestations and noxious odours in both the home and neighbouring dwellings. Communities across North America are responding to these public safety concerns through a harm reduction approach. This descriptive study explores the implementation and outcomes of the City of Vancouver's approach involving a partnership between fire prevention and public health. Data were collected from the team's 2016–2018 case tracking systems, consisting of health records and team intervention record, as well as notes taken from case briefing meetings. Study objectives included describing the intervention model, providing descriptive statistics on clients and their clutter volume, the interventions undertaken, and exploring predictors of clutter volume and case outcome through exploratory analyses. The sample included 82 cases involving severely hoarded conditions or more moderate hoarding conditions paired with additional client vulnerabilities (e.g. health conditions, frailty). Results from paired samples t-tests and regression analysis, suggest the Hoarding Action Response Team's (HART) model of a community-based intervention for hoarding was associated with clutter reduction and tenancy preservation. HART successfully maintained engagement with most clients, and most cases were closed within six home visits. Despite these successes, the team dealt with several barriers including client avoidance and limited resources. This paper provides guidance for communities who are working to develop a coordinated response to problems associated with hoarding and begins to establish expectations for what can be achieved through a community-based hoarding intervention model.
Subject	Community-based interventions; Fire prevention; Harm reduction; Hoarding disorder; Nursing interventions
Genre	Article; Postprint
Type	Text
Language	eng
Date Available	2023-06-14
Provider	Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI	10.14288/1.0433222
URI	http://hdl.handle.net/2429/84951
Affiliation	Arts, Faculty of; Psychology, Department of; Social Work, School of; Sociology, Department of
Citation	Kysow, K., Bratiotis, C., Lauster, N., & Woody, S. R. (2020). How can cities tackle hoarding? Examining an intervention program bringing together fire and health authorities in Vancouver. Health & Social Care in the Community, 28, 1160-1169.
Publisher DOI	10.1111/hsc.12948
Peer Review Status	Reviewed
Scholarly Level	Faculty; Graduate
Rights URI	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository	DSpace

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