Background: Palliative care for people experiencing homelessness is a complex field. Due to the intricate nuances and heterogeneity in the experience of palliative care for people without secure housing, it is essential that research is informed by people with lived experience of homelessness. However, as homelessness is often associated with loss, trauma and high levels of exposure to death, any co-production of research, particularly in the field of palliative and end-of-life-care, must be trauma-informed.
Aim: To produce recommendations for co-producing palliative and end-of-life-care research with people with lived experience of homelessness.
Design: A qualitative study comprising semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Data were analysed using iterative, reflexive thematic analysis.
Setting/participants: Twenty-seven participants were recruited. Sixteen professionals with experience of co-producing research with people with lived experience of homelessness; eleven people with lived experience of homelessness.
Results: Six key themes were developed: transparency, importance of engagement and rapport, facilitating equitable involvement via person centred approach, financial recognition of involvement, involvement and growth through a trauma-informed approach and navigating institutional resistance and attitudes. Recommendations corresponding to the core themes were developed (TIFFIN recommendations).
Conclusions: Co-production of palliative care research with people with lived experience of homelessness is essential, but must be done carefully and sensitively. As a population with high levels of premature morbidity and mortality yet low access to palliative care, the TIFFIN recommendations could help to support the involvement of people with lived experience of homelessness in palliative and end-of-life-care care research.
Keywords: Palliative care; community participation; homelessness; patient participation; qualitative research.