Encampment sweeps and persistent homelessness among unhoused people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada: A prospective cohort study

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What the source reports

by Kanna Hayashi, Eric C. Sayre, Jennifer McDermid, Samona Marsh, Caitlin Shane, Michael-John Sheridan Milloy, P.O.W.E.R. , Thomas Kerr Background Housing is a key determinant of health.

In response to increasingly visible homelessness amid a growing housing crisis, many jurisdictions in North America forcibly displace unhoused people from public spaces, routinely confiscating their personal belongings. While prior research demonstrated various health-related harms associated with these “encampment sweeps,” the impact on housing placements among otherwise unhoused people remains unclear. We sought to estimate…

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Source & verification

Primary source: PLOS Medicine · September 24, 2026

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