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Housing First is a model and philosophy for housing homeless people in immediate and permanent housing. In order to implement and deliver Housing First, research is essential to understand the system of support services as they currently exist. Guided by principles of community-based participatory research, this paper presents the findings from a senior-focused deliberative dialogue workshop in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Participants (16 service providers and 1 service recipient) identified services and resources available to support seniors in maintaining housing and barriers and facilitators for accessing services. Broadly, data were organized into seven themes: (1) Housing; (2) Home support; (3) Transportation; (4) Information availability, accessibility, and navigation; (5) Cultural diversity; (6) Discrimination; and (7) Funding and financial support. Results found that affordable housing that adapts to changing health conditions, income supports, health services, homecare, transportation, and culturally appropriate and nondiscriminatory informational resources are among the supports most needed for persons as young as 50 years old to succeed under the Housing First model in Metro Vancouver. Barriers to Housing First service provision, including rigid eligibility criteria for chronically and episodically homeless, should be revised to better support the growing number of older adults who are newly entering homelessness in Metro Vancouver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review examined the breadth of gender-sensitive tobacco and alcohol interventions that target girls and women. A comprehensive review of databases and websites was conducted in 2011/2012 for interventions that focused on girls and women health, incorporated an understanding of sex and/or gender, engaged with the determinants of women's health, and sought to reduce gender-related social and health inequities. Results of the review suggest that interventions designed with an understanding of the effect of gender roles, norms, and behaviors on women's health are limited and that much work remains to encourage practitioners to use a gender-sensitive approach when designing interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]