Caritas Street Nurses Offer Helping Hand to Homeless

Caritas Luxembourg has provided an overview of its latest project to support people experiencing homelessness in the Grand Duchy.

Since November 2020, a team of nurses from Caritas Luxembourg have taken to the streets of Luxembourg City to help the homeless. The service is also guaranteed at the "Wanteraktioun" night shelter in Findel.

The objective of this project, supported by the Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte and through private donations, is to help people living on the streets to realise the importance of taking care of their health and hygiene. This is all the more important today, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Caritas pointed out that there are many homeless people who have not had any medical follow-up for years and who require treatment but are suspicious, do not dare to ask for help or do not know not who to turn to for help. In addition, people who live on the streets often have more than one disease and are therefore particularly vulnerable.

The street nurses project goes beyond simple nursing care such as treating a wound. The first step is to gain the trust of people on the streets, make them aware of the various health and hygiene issues that concern them, get them to pay attention to the signs their body sends them, gradually help them to regain confidence in the health system and, if they wish, support them in their process to seek treatment.

The community health project team works with a network of associations, social workers, doctors and other health professionals. The mission of the Caritas Luxembourg team is to provide the right conditions so that a person experiencing homelessness can seek treatment with confidence, once again have confidence in the medical system and have the desire to continue their medical treatment.

Since the launch of the project, the street nurses have met with around 100 people and are regularly monitoring around 20 individuals. Many but not all of their issues relate to COVID-19. Therapeutic follow-up and care cover all the issues that homeless people may encounter, including mental illnesses.

For Caritas Luxembourg, this street nursing work is very important. "It's easier to accept help than to ask for it," said Laurie Gatley, who is in charge of the project. "Hence the importance of going to the streets, where homeless people are, rather than bringing them to us"."

Ms Gatley continued: "At the same time, our wish is to develop in Luxembourg this expertise as a street nurse, which does not yet exist, unlike in our neighbouring countries, but which is essential if we want homeless people to be able to benefit from comprehensive care and have access to health care".