Abstract

As Los Angeles prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games, public responses to homelessness will shape whether unhoused older adults are treated with dignity or exclusion. This project tests a scalable, narrative-based intervention to cultivate compassion and strengthen public support for evidence-based housing policy. Guided by Intergroup Contact Theory and Compassion Theory, we conduct a seven-week, randomized controlled trial with 1,600 Los Angeles residents recruited through Bovitz Inc. Participants will be randomized to a no-treatment control, narrative-only condition, or narrative-plus-action condition in which the factual narratives from formerly unhoused older adults are paired with a dictator-game donation task benefiting Mental Health America of LA. Narrative stimuli will be developed with 10 formerly unhoused adults ages 50+ through the Lived Experience Advisory Panel at Union Station Homeless Services. Outcomes include two compassion measures, affective attitudes toward unhoused older adults, and support for housing-related policies. These will be measured at baseline, immediate posttest, and Days 14, 28, and 49. Analyses will use the Discretized Response Model to distinguish genuine attitude change. Together with Mental Health America of LA, Affordable Living for the Aging, and Los Angeles Mission, findings will be translated into public-facing materials supporting Housing First and permanent supportive housing.

Field

Social Welfare/Luskin School of Public Affairs, Department of Education

Extramural Partners

American Association of Retired Persons, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), Mental Health America of LA, Affordable Living for the Aging, Los Angeles Mission, Lived Experience Advisory Panel at Union Station Homeless Services

Team

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