Shelter Health: Essentials of Care for People Living in Shelters
The Causes and Conditions of Homelessness
Serious personal health problems and flaws in health care systems are maKor contributors to contemporary homelessness. Some health problems – addictions, schiQophrenia, maKor depression, physical disabilities – are distressingly obvious, particularly in persons living in public spaces, while others are less visible but equally insidious, undermining the capacity to maintain stable housing and function independently. an far too many cases, a fragmented health care system has not responded adequately to the multiple needs of homeless persons, who are indigent and typically uninsured. With recent natural disasters in the U.S., particularly Hurricanes >atrina and Rita, the realities of homelessness on our national landscape are changing, with large numbers of poor people displaced by storms trying to make a new start in new communities, many of which are already having enough trouble providing basic services for their...