Canadian Researchers Travel Across Country to Interview Homeless Women Veterans

A group of university students and researchers spent the summer traveling across Canada to interview homeless female veterans, gaining valuable insight and finding possible solutions to curb homelessness. 

The study, spearheaded by Western University in London, Ontario, was led by nursing professor Cheryl Forchuk. She put together a research team of three university students tasked with gathering qualitative and quantitative data from interviews with veterans who’ve been homeless in the past or were homeless during the time of the interviews. 

The team’s work was impressive. Researchers zig-zagged across the Great White North to talk to more than 100 women veterans in every province and territory. The goal was to document first-hand accounts to grasp the toll of veteran homelessness for women. 

Adopting the Home Depot slogan, “How Doers Get More Done,” the group was willing to travel far and wide to reach as many veterans as possible in a relatively short time frame. In some instances, students had to improvise. Emily Angus, studying for a PhD at the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, had an interview scheduled for an hour outside London. With no rental cars available, Angus opted to rent a Home Depot van, hence the team’s motto was born. 

“Their slogan was right on the side – ‘how doers get more done’ – and it felt fitting because nothing was going to stop us from reaching that participant,” Angus said. 

The federally funded project’s goal was to analyze how service history, gender, and housing issues all factor into life as a female veteran in Canada. 

“We need to understand the needs of specific subpopulations to end homelessness,” Forchuk said. “This requires having in-depth conversations.” 

Researchers Build Relationships 

While Angus has worked with the homeless population for years, the veterans’ project was a new study in patience and empathy. 

“The relationship you build with participants is everything,” she said. “Getting really good information comes from building trust. To spend time with the participant and have fruitful discussions, especially for the qualitative part of the interview, it’s so important to build that relationship.” 

The nursing student’s travel log included stops to St. John’s, Newfoundland, in far eastern Canada, to the central plains of Winnipeg and out west to cities in Saskatchewan. First, she had to find homeless veterans to talk to. Not easy. Angus connected with local organizations and veterans’ groups to find possible participants. 

“It takes conversations with so many people just to get one lead,” she said. “You can’t just walk down the street and find a woman veteran who has experienced homelessness. You have to earn the community’s trust.” 

Meeting Them Where They Are 

Like Angus, Nikita Burman, studying medicine at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, realized the importance of building a level of trust and comfort when interacting with homeless veterans. Burman traveled as far north as Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, to connect with Indigenous and veterans’ agencies, as well as Edmonton and cities in Ontario. 

One veteran who had been homeless chose to talk to Burman in her apartment. 

“She invited me to her apartment because that’s where she felt comfortable,” Burman said. “She talked about what worked and what didn’t – she had incredible ideas for how supports could be improved.” 

Burman was surprised to find out that many women veterans don’t know they are eligible for veteran programs. 

“Many male veterans are aware they are eligible for support through the Poppy Fund or similar programs upon discharge from the military, but that’s not the case for a lot of women,” she said. “We’re hearing first-hand how information sharing needs to change.” 

Study Impacts Future Doctors 

Mihir Pandya, a third-year student at Schulich, believes the study showed the impact of academic research combined with first-person accounts. 

“I had done research on homelessness before, but it was all behind a screen,” Pandya said. “Once you are out in the field, talking to individuals experiencing homelessness or even talking to these organizations that provide these services, I think you gain a very different perspective.” 

Pandya teamed with Forchuk to reach veterans along Canada’s east coast from New Brunswick to Newfoundland. The trip was also a way to connect with local veterans’ organizations. 

Returning to Toronto, Pandya met up with Burman to interview a local veteran. The social interaction helped shed light on the problems homeless veterans face.  

“You realize people can do everything right – live responsibly, serve their country – and still face homelessness through pure misfortune,” Pandya said. “That makes you grateful, but it also reminds you how fragile stability can be.” 

For Pandya, the project carried a personal impact as he embarked on a career treating patients. 

“Health is shaped by so many social factors, such as housing, income and trauma,” he said. “Understanding those determinants helps me become a better doctor and advocate.”

Findings Help Female Veterans 

Researchers said results of the study could help develop policies, housing initiatives and programs designed for women veterans. 

The project required resilience, compassion, and ingenuity. Burman said the work “reshaped how I view medicine and policy.” 

“This project shows the importance of listening,” Burman said. “We can’t design one-size-fits-all solutions. A single mother who’s a veteran has completely different needs than a single man. The only way to know that is to actually talk to them.” 

Angus said the project has a higher meaning than simply collecting data. 

“We’re not collecting data just to collect data,” she said. “We’re collecting it so that we can make change.” 

Forchuk presented the study’s results at the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research Forum in Ottawa and will also present at the National Conference on Ending Homelessness in Montreal.