IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i10p1313-d1490545.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Status of People Who Are and Are Not Experiencing Homelessness: Opportunities for Improvement

Author

Listed:
  • Susan J. Gordon

    (College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide 5042, Australia)

  • Nicky Baker

    (College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide 5042, Australia)

  • Tania S. Marin

    (College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide 5042, Australia)

  • Margie Steffens

    (Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, Australia)

Abstract

This study assessed the physical and psychological health parameters of adults experiencing homelessness to inform the development and delivery of health services by comparing with a housed population in the same South Australian city. Adults experiencing homelessness, known to existing support services, were invited to participate in a comprehensive assessment of their physical and mental health using questionnaires and objective assessments. Descriptive analyses using the percentage of participants failing to attain recommended published thresholds and accumulated health deficits for 16 health assessments were compared for the young group of people experiencing homelessness (18–40 years), the middle aged and older people experiencing homelessness (40–75 years), and a housed population of the middle aged and older people (40–75 years). Those experiencing homelessness had multiple and potentially inter-related health deficits compared with a population of people not experiencing homelessness in the same city. They were significantly less likely to meet healthy population norms for clinical frailty ( p < 0.001), psychological distress ( p < 0.001), grip strength ( p < 0.001), lung function ( p < 0.001), sleep quality ( p < 0.001), and pelvic floor bother ( p = 0.002). Significantly more accumulated health deficits were found for people experiencing homelessness when compared with the same ages for those who were not (mean 6.5 (SD 2.4) compared with 5.0 (SD 2.1)). This considerably increased for people experiencing homelessness aged less than 40 years (mean 8.7 (1.7)). Priorities for health service provision for people of different ages experiencing homelessness, when compared with housed community dwellers, have been described. The provision of targeted health assessments and service provision that specifically address healthcare needs among people experiencing homelessness are likely to have the biggest impacts across multiple health domains.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan J. Gordon & Nicky Baker & Tania S. Marin & Margie Steffens, 2024. "Health Status of People Who Are and Are Not Experiencing Homelessness: Opportunities for Improvement," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(10), pages 1-12, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:10:p:1313-:d:1490545
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/10/1313/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/10/1313/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Md Mahbub Hossain & Abida Sultana & Samia Tasnim & Qiping Fan & Ping Ma & E Lisako J McKyer & Neetu Purohit, 2020. "Prevalence of mental disorders among people who are homeless: An umbrella review," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(6), pages 528-541, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tobias Schiffler & Ali Kapan & Alina Gansterer & Thomas Pass & Lisa Lehner & Alejandro Gil-Salmeron & Daragh T. McDermott & Igor Grabovac, 2023. "Characteristics and Effectiveness of Co-Designed Mental Health Interventions in Primary Care for People Experiencing Homelessness: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Naina J Ahuja & Allison Nguyen & Sandra J Winter & Mark Freeman & Robert Shi & Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa & Catherine A Heaney, 2020. "Well-Being without a Roof: Examining Well-Being among Unhoused Individuals Using Mixed Methods and Propensity Score Matching," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-13, October.
    3. Kiran M. Sarma & Sarah L. Carthy & Katie M. Cox, 2022. "PROTOCOL: Mental disorder, psychological problems and terrorist behaviour: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(2), June.
    4. Kiran M. Sarma & Sarah L. Carthy & Katie M. Cox, 2022. "Mental disorder, psychological problems and terrorist behaviour: A systematic review and meta‐analysis," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(3), September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:10:p:1313-:d:1490545. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.