Street Mental Health Handbook

About this event

In 2024–2025, the Street Mental Health Handbook: Care Delivery Across the Spectrum of Homelessness was developed in collaboration with street psychiatrists to support providers working with people who are homeless and living with mental illness. This session draws on the handbook’s core themes and offers a practical, nurse centred exploration of street mental health practice.

This presentation has been designed for nurses who are new to street health and more seasoned nurses wishing to deepen their understanding. It will focus on on the role of nursing in street outreach, harm reduction and trauma informed care. Participants will explore how individual, collective, historical and structural trauma shape engagement, assessment and treatment in this setting.

Grounded in nearly two decades of frontline street nursing experience, the session will use case studies, reflective dialogue and open discussion to examine the realities, challenges and rewards of this work. As street nursing continues to emerge as a subspecialty, this session offers practical tools, critical insights and space for reflection to support nurses navigating complex systems while caring for some of the most marginalized populations.

Presenter:

Kim Van Herk, RN, BScN, MScN