Emergency Room Overcrowding And Emergency Rooms

The lack of mental health services available to the mentally-ill and the deinstitutionalization of mental health hospitals have created a public health concern. These issues along with a failed continuum of care plans and a lack of community mental health services have been major contributing factors to homelessness. In addition, the strict guidelines for psychiatric hospitalization are critical when analyzing homelessness. In many cases, only the critically ill are meeting clinical criteria for hospitalization, leaving those who have significant mental health problems to fend for themselves. The link between homelessness and mental health is acknowledged but requires reform.

Homelessness has been a social problem for a long time so by trying to enable the individuals to gain access to the same health care as others it may prevent the amount of deaths of homeless people. It was found that just over a third of homeless person’s deaths were due to alcohol and drug misuse; if homeless individuals had access to a GP or health services they may be able to be referred and continuously reviewed to enable them to stop the substance misuse.

Homelessness has become an evolving epidemic of our time, and the health implications associated with being homeless makes it that much worse. Homeless people are at major risk for premature death and a wide range of health problems such as HIV, skin blemishes, and much more. It is very difficult for homeless people to fix their health issues due to the difficulty of accessing health care possibly because of missing health cards, or simply because of the stigma placed on them when they enter a public facility. Whatever the problem may be that is forcing more people to become homeless, it must be solved, and quickly before our world turns into a travesty.

Meghan Henry, Dr. Alvaro Cortes, and Sean Morris, “The 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report(AHAR) to Congress” Hudexchange.com

1). Complete families are also in need of other human services before, during, and after the use of homeless shelter services (Culhane, et al., 2011). According to this research study, homeless families appear to use more services provided by homeless service programs than individual single adults do. Apparently, these homeless families supplant mainstream medical services intended for the general public, with services directed towards the homeless offered by homeless service programs (Culhane et al.,

The most recent survey of homeless individuals conducted January 29, 2014 revealed 958 homeless adults with no dependants, 70 of which were completely unsheltered, and an additional 130 homeless adults who also had dependent children with them. 208 of these homeless adults are chronically homeless (HUD’s 2014 Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs, Populations, and Subpopulations, 2014).Wayside Christian Mission reaches approximately 7,000 homeless individuals annually (Wayside Christian Mission, 2007). In the Journal of General Internal Medicine, a majority of homeless individuals surveyed stated that they felt discriminated against or that they received lesser care because of their poverty or homelessness (Wen, Hudak, & Hwang, 2007). Homeless and impoverished individuals suffer from high rates of depression, psychiatric illness, alcohol and or substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, TB, Trauma, preterm birth, COPD, low birth weight, musculoskeletal problems, decreased access to care, foot problems, malnutrition, and high Emergency Room utilization (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). Not only do homeless persons have a high rate of illness, but they are also less able to appropriately treat health problems. Many homeless individuals have limited access to care, cannot afford medications or nutritious food, and may have difficulty with managing a strict

There are currently 564,708 homeless individuals in the United States (U.S.), however this is just an estimate as there are probably hundreds that go uncounted, during PIT (point-in-time count) or remain unregistered with non-profit agencies providing services (The National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2016). Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) most homeless individuals did not have health insurance, as provisions for these individuals as well as the low-income population could only be accepted into the Medi-cal / Medicaid program, if they had children that were eligible. Since ACA was implemented a large percentage of the homeless are insured, but, this does not mean that the preexisting gaps and barriers to access health care do not exist. They do. Being homeless has been found to correlate to a poor health status (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2016). In fact, homeless individuals are at risk and experience more chronic illness than someone who has housing. Additionally, once chronic illness develops in a homeless individual, they are at higher risk for comorbid conditions, new conditions (such as skin disorders and respiratory illness) and an acceleration in the development of their disease(s).

(Mann, 2014, p.2) These strategies include: broadening access to primary care services; focus on individuals who frequently utilize the emergency department (super-utilizers); and targeting the needs of individuals with behavioral health problems. (Mann, 2014, pp 2-4) Many resources and processes have been implemented in order to help decrease inappropriate emergency department visits. This paper is going to demonstrate some resources and processes that are in place to help individuals obtain health care at the appropriate health care setting.

According to the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), disease was prevalent in the newly homeless. This population accessed health care services at high rates in the year before becoming homeless. Significant improvements in health status were seen over the study period as well as a significant increase in the number who were insured (American Journal of Public Health, 2012). The homeless in Overtown face a variety of risks and barriers to their health. Firstly, a good number of the population suffers from mental illness, they suffer from a range of mental health problems from depression, personality disorders, schizophrenia and many more. Most are unable to treat their mental

One of the biggest leading social issues around the world is homelessness. In the United States alone, there are more than half a million people experiencing homelessness. There are different factors that led a person to homelessness, economic, social, political issues, and natural disasters. But in the United States, homelessness is often caused by system failure, and people and with related issues. A brief history of homelessness, the issues documented during the early colonial period, back then it was viewed as a character flaw in the person and not outside causes. The Great Depression hits the United States hard and millions lost their jobs result in homelessness. Comes swooping in with the New Deal policy from presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt helps save the economy by providing jobs and helps reduce homeless population (Homelessness). In the early 80’s the economy was losing jobs again due to the decline of manufacturing, causes a high-rise in homelessness. That led to many cutbacks in affordable housing, medical care that makes many mentally ill patients unable to afford housing. With that many Individuals with disabilities or mental health issues that can’t afford proper health can be in danger of homelessness. But for those who are already living on the streets don’t have access to nutrient, personal hygiene, and other serious health conditions. There is some organization across the United States that provides health care service for

The courts recognize the obstacles being homeless creates and targets those obstacles instead of just the homeless individual. According to a study in 2007 done by the American Journal of Psychiatry “by 18 months after completion, participants, who at first are required to make weekly court appearances, are 39 percent less likely to be charged with a new offense than mentally ill people in the regular court system. The risk of being charged with a new violent crime was 54 percent lower” (Knight 3). Local law enforcement agencies can support aid programs for the homeless by training police officers to help homeless citizens and direct them to homeless agencies. Health care providers such as clinics and hospitals can also be a link to rehabilitation programs. Hospitals are constantly receiving homeless patients suffering from mental disorders and overdoses. Once patients are treated they are usually released back onto the streets without further care. Thus, the hospitals are only providing temporary help, and there is a high chance that someone will end up in the hospital again for the same problem. “Reducing the flow of at-risk individuals being released from institutions into the community without receiving proper transitional services is critical to reducing

Homelessness affects one fifth of the United States population (Hwang et al., 2010). The homeless population experience health conditions at higher rates than the general population and fifty percent of them are uninsured or lack access to health care services (Kar, Kumar, Singh, & Upadhyay, 2015). This study examine the homeless population and examines their level of health care utilization to demonstrate that homeless individuals are intensive users of health services. Tracing the sample population 's health care encounters is critical in and addressing the gaps they face in access to healthcare and understanding the importance of health access as a result of their vulnerable situations. The researchers discovered that homeless people with provincial health cards were accessing health services at high rates, specifically Emergency Department and inpatient hospital visits. Despite the study 's comprehensive assessment of high utilization of health services amongst homeless people, the study is limited by a biased sampling strategy that favored participants with valid provisional health card numbers, use of secondary data analysis, and generalizations due to minimal references to other cities in California. Strengthening

The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age (WHO, 2016). This current event relates to the social determinants of health because homelessness has a huge impact on someone’s overall health and quality of life. People who experience homelessness do not have the resources to maintain their health. This can lead to stress, depression, substance abuse, and a number of problems. They are exposed to communicable diseases, malnutrition and many other health issues. Over 500,000 Americans are homeless every night (Kertesz, 2016). This is why we have Health Care for the Homeless programs. The majority of federally funded organizations for the homeless are operated properly. But, there are some

Throughout history there has always been a portion of society living in disadvantaged conditions. With the current high cost of living, global issues, unemployment rate on the rise, and low wages, many Americans are finding themselves homeless. One would think that in this advanced century, there would not be individuals living without the basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter. Unfortunately, there are millions of people with nowhere to sleep. Besides the many problems homeless people face daily, one of the leading problems is health care. Being homeless with limited access to health care or shelter in conjunction with mental illness or exposure to harmful diseases can lead to poor health, or

Historically, homeless populations across the nation have the same health outcomes (Diabetes, Heart Disease, Hypertension, HIV, Mental health issues, and Alcohol, drug, and tobacco use) that are due to lack of housing, lack of health insurance, poor access to health care services, poverty, poor diet and hygiene, and exposure to the environmental conditions (Valvassori, Sklar, Chipon-Schoepp, & Messer, 2014). However, even if the homeless individual has health insurance, there additional barriers and inequalities that prevent the person from seeking health care and treatment. For example, lack of trust in the medical environment, being treated unfairly (for example, doctor bias), having to travel with heavy, personal homeless belongings, long