The impact of drop-in centres on the health of street boys in New Delhi: An interpretive descriptive study

• Drop-in centres positively influence street children's health and substance use.
• Drop-in centres tailor services to street children.
• Participants feel centres are nonjudgmental, and provide freedom and protection.
• Participants feel centres give children the opportunity for a better life.
• Children continued to live on the streets because life had become normal to them.

Our objective was to understand how drop-in centres influence the physical health, substance use status, and mental health of street children in New Delhi, India using interpretive description methodology. We conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 23 street children and two staff members from two drop-in centres in New Delhi. We asked participants to describe how they believed drop-in centres worked or did not work to influence street children's physical and mental health and substance use status. We analyzed the interviews using constant comparative method. Participants believed that because street children regularly visited drop-in centres, their health outcomes improved. Street children participated in drop-in services rather than services provided by other facilities because at the centres, the staff members were nonjudgmental, they were free to be a child, their daily struggles were lessened and they received protection. Staff at drop-in centres also provided children with moral direction and an opportunity for a better life. However, children continued to live on the streets despite what centres offered because street life had become normal to them. According to street children and staff members, drop-in centres positively influence the physical health, mental health and substance use status of street children by providing services in an environment tailored for street children.