Moving On
Research type
Research Study
Full title
COVID-19 and rough sleepers: a pilot randomised controlled trial oftesting models of housing and support to reduce risks of COVID-19 infection and homelessness (Moving On Study)
IRAS ID
303353
Contact name
Peter Mackie
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
ES/V011855/1, Funder reference; 69564614, ISRCTN/ ClinicalTrials.gov ref:
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, days
Research summary
Summary of Research
As part of the government's response to COVID-19, 15,000 individuals experiencing homelessness were offered self-contained temporary accommodation in England, mainly in hotels. This approach, which has involved the decanting of hostels, shelters and similar shared provision for individuals experiencing homelessness, is a short-term response.
With lockdown ending, decisions are being taken about how to house individuals who were homeless in line with the UK government's commitment to prevent people from going back to the streets - including, potentially, through the re-opening of shelter-type accommodation. Existing temporary accommodation with shared facilities might make it impossible for people to comply with government social distancing advice. So these decisions will impact on the risk of further waves of infection from COVID-19.
We conducted a pilot randomised controlled trial to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a full-scale randomised trial (RCT) to investigate whether Settled Accommodation (SA) prevents COVID-19 infection and reduces housing instability compared to Temporary Accommodation (TA) (usual care).
As part of the study, recruited participants had the option to provide informed consent for their personal data to be linked to NHS health records, in order that the study team could explore the feasibility and acceptability of linkage to routine data in this population for a future, definitive RCT. Specifically, we are interested in the extent to which (a) participants are willing to consent for their data to be linked and (b) personal identifiers collected in this population can successfully be linked to routine data.
We have already received University School ethical approval for the main study, but are seeking REC approval to work with NHS Digital on linking to health records of participants who have explicitly consented to this process.
Summary of Results
We conducted a pilot randomised controlled trial to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a full-scale randomised trial (RCT) to investigate whether Settled Accommodation (SA) prevents COVID-19 infection and reduces housing instability compared to Temporary Accommodation (TA) (usual care). As part of the study, recruited participants had the option to provide informed consent for their personal data to be linked to NHS health records, in order that the study team could explore the feasibility and acceptability of linkage to routine data in this population for a future, definitive RCT. Specifically, we were interested in the extent to which (a) participants were willing to consent for their data to be linked and (b) personal identifiers collected in this population could successfully be linked to routine data. Two Local Authorities entered the trial, recruiting 50 People Experiencing Homelessness. All participants consented to sharing identifiers for linkage to health and other data. The match rate (n/50) with NHS Digital is to be confirmed as we are still waiting the final data.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/LO/0889
Date of REC Opinion
8 Dec 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion