{"id":84925,"date":"2016-06-10T14:58:07","date_gmt":"2016-06-10T18:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?p=84925"},"modified":"2021-02-18T15:55:33","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T20:55:33","slug":"serving-up-dignity-with-showers","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2016\/serving-up-dignity-with-showers\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanitation as a Basic Human Right"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"banner-container banner-has-html\">\n<div class=\"videoWrapper\" style=\"position: relative;padding-bottom: 56.25%; \/* 16:9 *\/height: 0;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"855\" height=\"481\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/buniverse\/interface\/embed\/embed.html?v=1QdEi60\" style=\"position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;width: 100%;height: 100%;frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen> <\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">June 10, 2016<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<p>For MPH student Debbie Perez and recent graduates Kati Moran (\u201916) and Becca Walmer (\u201916), a class project on access to showers among homeless Bostonians continued long after the final presentation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll along our goal has always been to produce something that\u2019s useful and helpful to the city,\u201d says Moran. \u201cWe never just wanted to do this project and then leave all the data somewhere and never talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Project SUDS (Serving Up Dignity with Showers), which won the Boston University <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ioc\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Initiative on Cities (IOC)<\/a> Urban Research Award in 2015 and the School of Public Health Dean\u2019s Award this past April, is a survey of homeless people and service providers for that population, looking at access and barriers when it comes to showers, bathrooms, and laundry.<\/p>\n<p>It began in the spring of 2015, when Perez, Moran, and Walmer took <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/yvette-cozier\/\">Yvette Cozier<\/a>\u2019s social epidemiology course (EP775), which focuses on the social determinants of health, like race, class, and gender. The final project was the creation of an <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/grants.nih.gov\/grants\/guide\/pa-files\/PA-13-288.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NIH grant proposal for research related to health disparities<\/a>.\u00a0The team was inspired by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/lavamae.org\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lava Mae<\/a>, a program in San Francisco that turns buses into mobile shower and bathroom facilities for the city\u2019s homeless population.<\/p>\n<p>The students\u00a0created a proposal to work with the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bhchp.org\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) <\/a>to gather qualitative data from service providers and people experiencing homelessness. They also proposed looking\u00a0at medical record data to investigate the disease burden and health-related costs that may be associated with irregular personal hygiene.<\/p>\n<p>After their final presentation in Cozier\u2019s class, the team used their NIH-formatted grant proposal to apply for, and win, the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ioc\/2015\/09\/02\/project-suds\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">IOC Urban Research Award<\/a>. The students then got to work, advised by Cozier and Assistant Professor of Environmental Health <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/jessica-leibler\/\">Jessica Leibler,<\/a>\u00a0who\u00a0is affiliated faculty with the IOC\u00a0(much of her research focuses on environmental exposures and hygiene access for people experiencing homelessness\u2014including a project assisted by Perez).<\/p>\n<p>The team\u00a0conducted a survey with 34 BHCHP patients during the winter and spring of 2016, asking them about how and where they are able to take showers, use the bathroom, and wash their clothes.<\/p>\n<p>Walmer says the majority reported major difficulties accessing showers, with concerns about theft being the biggest barrier. \u201cOne man mentioned that sometimes he takes his personal belongs and puts them in a trash bag,\u201d she says, \u201cand actually takes them into the shower with him to avoid getting them stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Privacy\u2014or lack thereof\u2014can also be a barrier to using a wide-open public shower. \u201cNot everyone really likes getting showers like that,\u201d Moran says. \u201cI know I wouldn\u2019t, and if I were homeless then I wouldn\u2019t like it then either.\u201d\u00a0Several respondents also spoke about\u00a0their history of sexual trauma and how it made them reluctant to\u00a0use a communal shower, Walmer says.<\/p>\n<p>Walmer says the team also found restroom access \u201cis just as much of an issue\u2014if not more so.\u201d Entering\u00a0a Starbucks, for example, is a privilege reserved for people who don\u2019t \u201clook\u201d homeless\u2014and\u00a0going to the bathroom outside can lead to arrest and being deemed a sex offender, making finding a job or housing even more difficult.<\/p>\n<p>As for laundry, the team found simply discarding clothes and buying new ones at Goodwill was easier for many homeless people. They also heard about friends pooling their money to wash their clothes together in one machine at a laundromat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019ve really found in talking with all of these homeless people is how resilient they are and how savvy they are with making do with what they have,\u201d Moran says.<\/p>\n<p>For the next step, the team is creating a whitepaper report to present to stakeholders in Boston, and begin working toward effecting\u00a0change with their findings.\u00a0Perez says the timing is vital: Cost of living in Boston continues to rise, while the availability of affordable housing drops\u2014making rates of homelessness likely to rise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to bring the conversation back to the idea of dignity,\u201d Perez says. \u201cThis project isn\u2019t going to end homelessness, but we feel that it might spark a broader conversation about social justice, and the basic human right of access to water and sanitation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"mailto:msamu@bu.edu\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michelle Samuels<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[VIDEO] Student research project takes closer look at sanitation access for homeless Bostonians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10989,"featured_media":85279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[1748,2000],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3529,3530],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[128,501],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/84925"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10989"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84925"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/84925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191826,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/84925\/revisions\/191826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84925"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=84925"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=84925"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=84925"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=84925"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=84925"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=84925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}