SERVICES: membership organization, advocacy, conference, housing strategy, policy

ABOUT: The Ontario Association of Hostels (OAH) acts as a provincial coordinating body for emergency hostels located throughout Ontario, providing support and resources to member hostels and acting as an advocate on behalf of clients, service providers and member agencies…

Hawk, M., & Davis, D. (2011). The effects of a harm reduction housing program on the viral loads of homeless individuals living with HIV/AIDS. AIDS care, Epub ahead of print.
Abstract
Although the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapies has increased survival rates for many individuals living with HIV/AIDS, chronically homeless individuals with the disease continue to experience poor clinical outcomes and high mortality rates in comparison to the general population living with HIV. Housing as a structural intervention for homeless people living with HIV/AIDS has been shown both to be …

Debeck, K., Wood, E., Zhang, R., Buxton, J., Montaner, J., & Kerr, T. (2011). A dose-dependent relationship between exposure to a street-based drug scene and health-related harms among people who use injection drugs. Journal of Urban Health, 88(4), 724-35.
ABSTRACT: While the community impacts of drug-related street disorder have been well described, lesser attention has been given to the potential health and social implications of drug scene exposure on street-involved people who use illicit drugs. Therefore, we sought to assess the impacts of exposure to a street-based drug scene among injection …

Fairbairn N, Milloy MJ, Zhang R, Lai C, Grafstein E, Kerr T, Wood E. (2011). Emergency Department Utilization among a Cohort of HIV-positive Injecting Drug Users in a Canadian Setting. J Emerg Med. [Epub ahead of print]
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND:
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive injection drug users (IDUs) are known to be at risk for multiple medical problems that may necessitate emergency department (ED) use; however, the relative contribution of HIV disease vs. injection-related complications has not been well described.
OBJECTIVES:
We examined factors associated with ED use among a prospective cohort of HIV-positive IDUs in …

Dickson-Gomez, J., McAuliffe, T., Convey, M., Weeks, M., & Owczarak, J. (2011). Access to housing subsidies, housing status, drug use and HIV risk among low-income U.S. urban residents. Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 6(1), 31.
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND: Much research has shown an association between homelessness and unstable housing and HIV risk but most has relied on relatively narrow definitions of housing status that preclude a deeper understanding of this relationship. Fewer studies have examined access to housing subsidies and supportive housing programs among low-income populations with different personal characteristics. This paper …