Call For Submissions

Homelessness in Canada is a health issue, a social justice imperative and a national crisis. The Canadian Homelessness Research Network (2012) defines homelessness as “the situation of an individual or family without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means and ability or acquiring it”. The prevalence of homelessness in Canada is an underestimate but practitioners and researchers have suggested that the proportion of older adults who experience homelessness (often defined as age 50 and older) is increasing.

With the aim of promoting awareness and discussion of the diverse pathways and unique needs of older adults experiencing homelessness and the vision of CGNA to promote excellence in gerontological nursing through leadership, knowledge and scholarship, Perspectives is currently inviting manuscripts on older adults experiencing homelessness for a special issue in March 2025. Some examples of manuscript topics are: 

• Description of the considerations required to define “later life” and “old age” among individuals and groups experiencing homelessness
• Discussion of the merging complexity of individual risk factors and societal inequities that factor into the increasing proportion of older adults experiencing homelessness
• Exploration of the pathways to homelessness by older who have experienced aging in the streets and those who became homeless for the first time in later life
• Examination of the unique needs of older adults experiencing homelessness with implications for clinical practice, program development and policy innovation.

In the spirit of inclusion, we are interested in receiving manuscripts representing a wide spectrum including: quantitative and qualitative research, practice improvement projects, policy perspectives and literature reviews. We welcome academic research, community perspective, and practice expertise from healthcare and social service providers (nurses, allied health and others) as well as interested persons representing other fields of research and practice, both inside and outside of Canada. Guidelines for authors are available in Perspectives and on the CGNA website.

Electronic Submission Deadline: October 2024

Queries may be sent to Dawn Prentice, Editor-in-Chief via email.