Study | Location | Study design | Participants | Intervention | Comparison | Primary outcomes reporteda | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | Inclusion criteria | Recruitment | Homeless type (shelter/ rough sleeper) | Heavy drinkers | Â | Â | Â | |||
Educational information or support interventions | ||||||||||
 Rusness 1993 | USA | UBA | 7 | Homeless women at a shelter | Shelter | Shelter | NR | Biweekly classes focused on nutrition information, shopping and cooking skills | No control group | Nutritional status |
 Hinton 2001 | UK | UBA | 18 | Residents at the homeless shelter | A homeless shelter | Shelter dwellers | NR | a session on food hygiene and nutrition, a cooking competition | No control group | Nob |
 Derrickson 2003 | USA | RCT | 210 | Households at risk of homelessness who requested assistance between January to August 2001 | NR, likely from the database of the Salvation Army Family Services Office | At risk households | NR | 3-h nutrition workshop | 1-h food safety workshop. | Nutritional status |
 Heslin 2003 | USA | Comparative survey | 974 | Homeless women of reproductive age in Los Angeles County shelters and meal programs. | Shelters and meal programs | NR, likely all types | NR | case manager assigned to optimise uptake of WIC | Homeless women in WIC without case manager | No |
 Helfrich 2006 | USA | UBA | 32 | Self-identify a life skill need, be willing to engage in sessions each week, able to give informed consent and understand English | Shelters/ emergency shelters, transitional/ emergency housing program | Shelter | NR | Life-skills workshops & individual sessions | No control group | No |
 Johnson 2009 | USA | UBA | 50 | Long-term residents in the shelter (2 to 6 months), have at least one child residing with her in the shelter, and is enrolled in the shelter’s life skills program | Two homeless shelters | Shelter | NR | Nutrition education classes | No control group | Nutritional status |
 Bonevski 2012 | Australia | UBA | 6 | >  18 years, English speaking, receiving accommodation support from the participating homeless centre | A non-government homelessness outreach centre | NR, likely shelter | 58% | Telephone personal counselling on health | No control group | Nutritional status |
 Rustad 2013 | USA | UBA | 118 | English-speaking, low-income women living in the Minneapolis/ St Paul area | Soup kitchens, grocery stores, Laundromats, food shelves, and homeless shelters | NR, likely shelter or in transition | NR | 3 nutrition and health education sessions | No control group | Nutritional status |
 Barbour 2016 | Australia | UBA | 5 | Young person engaged with case management services in the community agency, with an interest in eating healthier and improving their cooking skills | Agencies helping homeless youth | Crisis accommodation, sleeping rough and couch-surfing | NR | Food literacy programme, participants engaged in a 3-h group interactive session over 8 weeks | Daily recommended values DRVs for males of age 19–50 years | Nutritional status |
Fortification / Supplement Interventions | ||||||||||
 Darnton-Hill 1986 | Australia | Comparative Survey | 106 | Quasi random selection: the first three attendees of the homeless shelter/clinic; first person sitting left of the entrance plus two more at the day centre | Homeless shelter, day centre, and a clinic | NR, Likely shelter and rough sleepers | 70% | Men taking oral multivitamin | Not taking vitamins | Nutritional status |
 Drijver 1993 | Netherlands | UBA | 9 | Almost daily alcohol consumption for past 5 years; average use of 8 E (80 g) alcohol per day; age 20–65 years; no vitamin supplements in the past month; thiamine level < 110 nmol | Homeless houses and outpatient facilities for alcoholics | NR, likely all types | 100% (all drinking > 5 years, 80 g or more /day) | Single or weekly Intramuscular injection of combined 200 mg thiamine, 100 mg pyridoxine, 1000 ng cyanocobalamin | No control group | Nutritional status |
 Darmon 2009 | France | Repeat Survey | 130 | Men attending any of the 8 emergency shelters in Paris (3 night shelters and 5 food aid day centres) | Emergency shelters | NR, Likely shelter and rough sleepers | NR, likely majority | Fortified chocolate spread distribution | No control group | No |
Food provision interventions | ||||||||||
 Garden 2013 | Russia | Case (historical) control | 142 | All homeless patients with tuberculosis referred to a St. Petersburg’s Tuberculosis dispensary | Tuberculosis dispensary | NR, likely all types | 45% (registered alcoholics) | Daily food packs including canned meat, bread, butter, egg and soup with cream, juice, tea and yoghurt (2000 kcal) | Homeless treated at the tuberculosis dispensary in previous years | No |
 Murakami 2013 | Brazil | UBA | 315 | Low income people (elderly, unemployed, homeless and itinerant) who have been to the restaurant ≥3 time per week | NR | NR, likely all types | NR | Low cost meals available at restaurants | No control group | Nutritional status |
 Villena 2013 | Spain | Survey | 50 | Clients coming to the meal provision centre | Community kitchen | NR, likely all types | NR | Evaluating five community kitchen menus | No control group | No |
 Pelham-Burn 2014 | UK | Survey | 16 | Clients coming to a meal provision centre | The lounge area / front desk of the meal provision centre | NR, likely all types | NR | Taste testing 12 lunch dishes. | No control group | No |
 Allen 2014 | Australia | UBA | 78 | Rooming house residents, homeless persons and others deemed eligible for entry to the project | Café Meals project database North Yarra Community Health | All types | 19% alcohol dependent | Providing clients a subsidy that entitles them to one meal per day at one of four local cafés | No control group | Nutritional status |
Multicomponent interventions | ||||||||||
 Wiecha 1993 | USA | Comparative Survey | 77 | Homeless families without overt substance abuse or emotional problems with a child under 6 placed by the public welfare in temporary accommodation | Shelters and meal programs | Transitional homeless | NR | Kitchen facilities without food support (shelter) versus facilities & food support (shelter) | No kitchen facilities or food support (hotels) | Nutritional status |
 Tarasuk 1994 | Canada | UBA | 49 | Homeless adult attenders of an inner city drop in centre | Drop in centre for homeless adults | All types | NR | Three sequential interventions: 1) weekly cooking classes; 2)making the centres’ kitchen available for use to street-living; 3)communal cooking and dining | No control group | No |
 Hamm 1999 | USA | UBA | 31 | families in transition- who are temporarily living in shelters, transitional housing or with friends/family | Homeless shelters, soup kitchens, transitional housing, nurseries and day-care centres and family support centres | Transitional homeless | NR | Group nutrition education classes, health checks and food pack vouchers useable at specified stores | Non-homeless WIC participants | No |
 Stewart 2009 | Canada | UBA | 56 | Homeless or in transition homeless youth | An employment programme and drop-in centres | All types | 34% sought counselling for alcohol/ drugs | Weekly support groups (help with homework, course or job finding, recreational activity, meal, transport) | No control group | No |
 Richards 2011 | USA | Comparative Survey | 11,181 | Homeless pregnant women with complete data in the PRAMS database | PRAMS database | All types | NR | WIC homeless women | Non WIC homeless women | No |
 Kadoura 2014 | USA | UBA | 25 | Homeless families with at least one child at the shelter school. Speak English or Spanish. | Homeless shelter | Shelter | 60% parents reported drug and alcohol use substance abuse | 10 two-hour sessions, including physical activity, education/training, and a ‘healthy dinner’ | Non concurrent national data | Nutritional status |
 Grazioli 2015 | USA | UBA | 6 | Homeless drinkers, with a disability; homeless for at least 1 year or on 4 or more separate occasions in the past 3 years; aged 21–65 years | 2 community-based agencies | NR, likely all types | 100% | Safer-drinking strategies: treatment with extended-release naltrexone and harm-reduction counselling | No control group | Liver function |
 Kendzor 2016 | USA | RCT | 32 | ≥18 years of age; willing+ able to attend all visits; > 6th grade literacy level; able to walk; resident of the transitional shelter for ≤2 months. | One shelter | Shelter dweller | NR | Newsletters, fruit/veg provision & pedometers/ walking goals. | No Intervention: Paid assessment-only | Nutritional status |