ISSN: 2044-9038 (Print) 2044-9046 (Electronic)

Clinical Practice

Homelessness And Healthcare

To the extent that homeless people have been able to obtain needed health care services, they have relied on emergency rooms, clinics, hospitals, and other facilities that serve the poor. Indigent people (with or without a home) experience many obstacles in obtaining health care. For homeless people there are additional barriers. Recognition of the special health care needs of homeless people has encouraged the development of special services for them. In observing and describing these health care and health care-related services, one must be mindful of the heterogeneous nature of the homeless population, as well as the structure of the communities in which such services have developed. Regardless of differences among homeless people or regional variations in services, however, homeless people are more susceptible to certain diseases, have greater difficulty getting health care, and are harder to treat than other people, all because they lack a home. Similarly, attempts to provide health and mental health care services, regardless of variations in such areas as history, funding levels, and nature of support, also have certain common elements. They arose in response to a crisis rather than developing as part of a well thought out plan. They generally brought services to homeless people rather than waiting for them to come in; increasingly, they rely on public funding because the problem has grown beyond a level that the private sector can support.    

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