Residential patterns in older homeless adults: Results of a cluster analysis

Abstract

Adults aged 50 and older make up half of individuals experiencing homelessness and have high rates of morbidity and mortality. They may have different life trajectories and reside in different environments than do younger homeless adults. Although the environmental risks associated with homelessness are substantial, the environments in which older homeless individuals live have not been well characterized. We classified living environments and identified associated factors in a sample of older homeless adults. From July 2013 to June 2014, we recruited a community-based sample of 350 homeless men and women aged fifty and older in Oakland, California. We administered structured interviews including assessments of health, history of homelessness, social support, and life course. Participants used a recall procedure to describe where they stayed in the prior six months. We performed cluster analysis to classify residential venues and used multinomial logistic regression to identify individual factors prior to the onset of homelessness as well as the duration of unstable housing associated with living in them. We generated four residential groups describing those who were unsheltered (n=162), cohabited unstably with friends and family (n=57), resided in multiple institutional settings (shelters, jails, transitional housing) (n=88), or lived primarily in rental housing (recently homeless) (n=43). Compared to those who were unsheltered, having social support when last stably housed was significantly associated with cohabiting and institution use. Cohabiters and renters were significantly more likely to be women and have experienced a shorter duration of homelessness. Cohabiters were significantly more likely than unsheltered participants to have experienced abuse prior to losing stable housing. Pre-homeless social support appears to protect against street homelessness while low levels of social support may increase the risk for becoming homeless immediately after losing rental housing. Our findings may enable targeted interventions for those with different manifestations of homelessness.

Characteristics and Factors Associated With Pain in Older Homeless Individuals: Results From the Health Outcomes in People Experiencing Homelessness in Older Middle Age (HOPE HOME) Study

“…14, 53 Two people did not provide information on pain, leaving a sample of 348. The cohort was 77.3% male, 79.6% African American, and 74.4% high school-educated (including GED).…”

“…Participants in the unsheltered group spent a large portion (average 154 days) of the prior 6 months in unsheltered locations; cohabiters spent a large portion of their time (average 128 days) staying with friends and family; multiple institution users stayed in multiple locations including shelters, transitional housing, motels, and jails (average 126 days); and renters, who had recently become homeless, spent a large portion of their time (average 144 days) in rental housing. 53 …”

“…We performed a cluster analysis to create a classification of living environments. 53 We used Ward’s linkage to minimize the sum-of-square differences within groups. We performed visual analysis of a dendrogram representing the structure of the data to select the optimum number of clusters.…”

Factors associated with cognitive impairment in a cohort of older homeless adults: Results from the HOPE HOME study

“…Using participants’ self-report of living environments during the past six months, we used cluster analysis with k-medians to classify residential histories of participants (Lee et al, 2016b). …”

Perfiles de personalidad y síndromes clínicos en personas sin hogar

“…Los estudios tipológicos con PsH han demostrado que es posible hacer clasifi caciones en función de diferentes patrones y sugieren que debemos seguir indagando en la caracterización de las PsH desde una perspectiva psicológica (Humphreys, 1995;Lee et al, 2016;Mavis, Humphreys, y Stöffelmayr, 1993;Morse, Calsyn, y Burger, 1992;Mowbray, Bybee, y Cohen, 1993;Solarz y Bogat, 1990;Stewart, 1998). Se han establecido tipologías según patrones de personalidad y síndromes clíni-cos en PsH utilizando el MCMI-III, concluyendo que el estudio tipológico favorece un conocimiento más profundo del sinhogarismo y puede facilitar la intervención, tanto desde los recursos sanitarios como desde los servicios sociales (Stewart, 1998).…”