Health, Homelessness, and Poverty

Gelberg, Lillian; Linn, Lawrence S.; Usatine, Richard P.; Smith, Mary

doi:10.1001/archinte.1990.00390220069014

Cited by 86 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…2 Numerous reports have described the health care needs of various homeless subgroups, with most addressing the health problems of adult individuals and children. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Surprisingly, the literature offers little information about the health status and service use patterns of homeless female heads of household and how their health and health care patterns compare with those of their housed counterparts. Although several descriptive reports and studies on homeless adult individuals have included female heads of household as part of the sample, 3,4,7,10 they have not reported specifically on the health needs of these women.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Health characteristics and medical service use patterns of sheltered homeless and low-income housed mothers

Weinreb

Goldberg

Perloff³

1998

J Gen Intern Med

122

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OBJECTIVE:To compare the health characteristics and service utilization patterns of homeless women and low-income housed women who are heads of household. DESIGN:Case-control study. SETTING: Community of Worcester, Massachusetts.PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 220 homeless mothers and 216 low-income housed mothers receiving welfare. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:Outcome measures included health status, chronic conditions, adverse lifestyle practices, outpatient and emergency department use and hospitalization rates, and use of preventive screening measures. Both homeless mothers and housed mothers demonstrated low levels of physical and role functioning and high levels of bodily pain. Prevalence rates of asthma, anemia, and ulcer disease were high in both groups. More than half of both groups were current smokers. Compared with the housed mothers, homeless mothers reported more HIV risk behaviors. Although 90% of the homeless mothers had been screened for cervical cancer, almost one third had not been screened for tuberculosis. After controlling for potential confounding factors, the homeless mothers, compared with the housed mothers, had more frequent emergency department visits in the past year (adjusted mean, homeless vs housed, 1.41 vs .95, p ‫؍‬ .10) and were significantly more likely to be hospitalized in the past year (adjusted odds ratio 2.22; 95% confidence interval 1.13, 4.38). CONCLUSIONS:Both homeless mothers and low-income housed mothers had lower health status, more chronic health problems, and higher smoking rates than the general population. High rates of hospitalization, emergency department visits, and more risk behaviors among homeless mothers suggest that they are at even greater risk of adverse health outcomes. Efforts to address gaps in access to primary care and to integrate psychosocial supports with health care delivery may improve health outcomes for homeless mothers and reduce use of costly medical care services. H omelessness remains a persistent and growing problem nationwide. A telephone survey of 1,507 household-based participants published in 1994 reported that 13.5 million (7.4%) of adult Americans had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives. 1 Most agree that homeless families, the majority of which are headed by women, are increasing in number and now constitute more than one third of the overall homeless population. 2 Numerous reports have described the health care needs of various homeless subgroups, with most addressing the health problems of adult individuals and children. 3-12 Surprisingly, the literature offers little information about the health status and service use patterns of homeless female heads of household and how their health and health care patterns compare with those of their housed counterparts. Although several descriptive reports and studies on homeless adult individuals have included female heads of household as part of the sample, 3,4,7,10 they have not reported specifically on the health needs of these women. A few studies have examined general h...

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Health characteristics and medical service use patterns of sheltered homeless and low-income housed mothers

Weinreb

Goldberg

Perloff³

1998

J Gen Intern Med

122

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“…When queried, the majority of participants reported lack of staff and medical encouragement to quit smoking, in part due to limited access to health care. Consistent with previous scientific literature, limited access to health care negatively impacts the health of homeless persons and removes the possibility of being screened for and offered assistance to smoking cessation (Okuyemi et al, 2006;Heffron et al, 1997;Ferenchick, 1992;Gelberg, Linn, Usatine & Smith, 1990; O'Toole, Gibbon, Hanusa, & Fine, 1999). The reported lack of medical encouragement to quit smoking among our sample mirrors previous research among other vulnerable populations.…”

Section: Lack Of Access To Caresupporting

confidence: 85%

Reducing tobacco-related health disparities : exploring the barriers and facilitators to smoking cessation among individuals experiencing homelessness.

Antoon¹

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“…There are several reasons why homeless people may be implicitly or explicitly perceived as a pathogen threat. A major challenge to those facing homelessness is lack of access to proper healthcare and sanitation (Acorn 1993;Gelberg et al 1990). As a result, homeless people suffer high rates of illness;…”

Section: Attitudes Towards Homeless People As a Response To Pathogen mentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining Public Support for Counterproductive Homelessness Policy: The Role of Disgust

Clifford

Piston

2016

Polit Behav

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Federal, state, and city governments spend substantial funds on programs intended to aid homeless people, and such programs attract widespread public support. In recent years, however, government has increasingly enacted policies, such as bans on panhandling and sleeping in public, which are counterproductive to alleviating homelessness. Yet, these policies also garner substantial support from the public. Given that programs aiding the homeless are so popular, why are these counterproductive policies also popular? We argue that disgust plays a key role in the resolution of this puzzle. While disgust does not decrease support for aid policies or even generate negative affect towards homeless people, it motivates the desire for physical distance, leading to support for policies that exclude homeless people from public life. We test this argument using survey data, including a national sample with an embedded experiment. Consistent with these expectations, our findings indicate that those respondents who are dispositionally sensitive to disgust are more likely to support exclusionary policies, such as banning panhandling, but no less likely to support policies intended to aid homeless people. Furthermore, media depictions of the homeless that include disease cues activate disgust, increasing its impact on support for banning panhandling. These results help explain the popularity of exclusionary homelessness policies and challenge common perspectives on the role of group attitudes in public life.

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Health, Homelessness, and Poverty

Cited by 86 publications

References 10 publications

Health characteristics and medical service use patterns of sheltered homeless and low-income housed mothers

Health characteristics and medical service use patterns of sheltered homeless and low-income housed mothers

Reducing tobacco-related health disparities : exploring the barriers and facilitators to smoking cessation among individuals experiencing homelessness.

Explaining Public Support for Counterproductive Homelessness Policy: The Role of Disgust

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