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ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR HOMELESSNESS AND HEALTH

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Annotated Bibliography for Homelessness and Health Disparities

Being homeless is associated with many health disparities and disadvantages that only

continue to worsen if one doesn't access proper healthcare. Homelessness is an international

concern as it affects people in all communities across the world. Almost half of the homeless

individuals drawn across the United States of America are believed to suffer from various

persistent illnesses, including untreated mental illnesses. The number of people suffering

from these illnesses continues to grow as they cannot access medication, and they are always

exposed to the illnesses since they don't have good care. They are always exposed because

most of them stay on bus stations, under bridges, on the streets, and in tunnels that carry

trains. During unbearable weather conditions, most homeless people seek shelter in public

places, and others end up getting sick, and the health conditions of others worsen. Depending

on the severity of these people's mental illnesses, some talk to their voices when alone.

Stafford, A., & Wood, L. (2017). Tackling health disparities for people who are

homeless? Start with social determinants. International journal of environmental

research and public health, 14(12), 1535.

Homeless individuals suffer from vast health disparities worldwide. Homeless people are

usually prone to shorter life expectancy, higher morbidity and the utilization of acute

hospital services. Homeless populations have less access to better healthcare and

quality preventive healthcare services increasing the risk of later-stage diagnosis of

various chronic disorders, poor control of manageable disorders like diabetes, and

staying in the wards for preventable conditions.

This report by Stafford introduces three case histories that depict the situations of the

homeless patients admitted to a hospital in Perth. The case study focuses on various
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sources of information, including information concerning the hospital and the data

gathered from various clinical examinations. They also focused on significant

healthcare costs for the examined participants over 33 months. The data utilized in

this context was drawn from the hospital’s database and other clinical examinations

through a technique known as VI-SPDAT questionnaire and given to the homeless

individuals in the street to take part in the questionnaire. Homelessness is the main

social detriment in the current healthcare system. This report comes to an end by

applying more quality procedures and application like Housing First and Integrated

Care for Homeless patients as the evidence-based interventional mechanisms meant to

enhance lives and minimize inefficient expenditure.

Kilbourne, A. M., Beck, K., Spaeth‐Rublee, B., Ramanuj, P., O'Brien, R. W.,

Tomoyasu, N., & Pincus, H. A. (2018). Measuring and improving the quality of

mental health care: a global perspective. World Psychiatry, 17(1), 30-38.

Mental disorders are common worldwide, especially among people experiencing

homelessness. This report introduces a foundation for upgrading quality measurement

to enhance the standards of mental healthcare. Barriers to this approach are named in

this article. Among the barriers are; lack of sufficient aspects of provider training

support, lack of standardized information technology (IT)-based sources of sufficient

and reliable data, and inadequate evidence based on scientific approaches among

others (Kilbourne et al., 2018). Various international strategies to mitigate these

barriers are underway, and other recommendations can facilitate and accelerate the

quality of mental healthcare.

The assessment of mental healthcare outcomes is presented in this article by the writers,

suggesting that the care mechanism based on the measurement model should be
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considered as part of the culture associated with the healthcare system. Various

suggestions given in this article include the execution of data elements for diagnoses

and clinical measures within the available electronic health records (EHRs) and IT

devices like smartphones. Generally, this article provides various approaches for

evaluating and enhancing the quality of mental healthcare of general populations,

including the homeless population.

Teruya, C., Longshore, D., Andersen, R. M., Arangua, L., Nyamathi, A., Leake, B., &

Gelberg, L. (2010). Health and health care disparities among homeless women.

Women & Health, 50(8), 719-736.

While disparities in healthcare between the endangered and majority populations are well

documented, the special population large and diverse in society receives less attention

concerning their disparities. Such knowledge can be used in mitigating the issue of

health disparities and formulate proper interventions to minimize their health and

healthcare conditions. Los Angeles County in California contains the highest number

of homeless women, and this study focuses on examining the health and healthcare

disparities among these homeless women.

This article is important because it further explores whether race or nationality and other

elements that incline homeless female to poor health or enable them to access quality

healthcare were connected to their failed need for healthcare services. This article

discovered that white, non-Latin women were prone to the failed need for healthcare

than African-Americans and Latinas. It also found out that women exposed to drug

abuse, violence, and depression urgently needed more care than other homeless

women.
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Henwood, B. F., Cabassa, L. J., Craig, C. M., & Padgett, D. K. (2013). Permanent

supportive housing: addressing homelessness and health disparities? American

journal of public health, 103(S2), S188-S192.

Permanent supportive housing (P.S.H.) is the suggested intervention that would address the

issue of homelessness. United States of America has implemented the policy of using

permanent supportive housing (P.S.H.) to address the issue of homelessness rather

than shelters and transitional housing. People usually believe that those transforming

from homelessness to P.S.H. face greater burden of disorder and health disparities.

The article further states that research concerning public health has not focused how

and whether P.S.H. enhances physical health outcomes. On top of the enhanced

access to advanced healthcare, social determinants of health like the environment

affect health outcomes. In conclusion, federal and local approaches to terminate the

issue of homelessness can stay in line with the existing efforts to create healthy

communities.

Hacker, K., Anies, M., Folb, B. L., & Zallman, L. (2015). Barriers to health care for

undocumented immigrants: a literature review. Risk management and healthcare

policy, 8: 175.

This report generally addresses obstacles to healthcare for the undocumented immigrants and

identifies the approaches that can be applied in order to address the barriers. The

writers involved 66 other published sources using three primary theories that

concentrate on the access to healthcare, immigrants and undocumented individuals.

Such reports provided various approaches, policies, and personal obstacles to provide

care for this population. The report also examines the obstacles present in the
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healthcare system. These include registration systems, paper work, discrimination and

bureaucratic obstacles (Hacker et al., 2015).

The literature review sector establishes five groups of suggestions for undocumented

immigrants. The recommendation categories include advocacy for strategy

conversion, expansion associated with the safety net, insurance options, educating the

medics to enhance care meant for the immigrants, and education of immigrants on the

ways forward. The obstacles are both legal in nature and enclose challenges essential

in illegal status.

Jacobs, D. E. (2011). Environmental health disparities in housing. American journal of

public health, 101(S1), S115-S122.

Physical infrastructure and housing are essential elements in providing shelter for the

homeless population. The way in which infrastructure works and to the people it

serves have an essential implication for the well-being and equality. Homeless

individuals are always prone to dangerous environmental disorders and injuries

(Jacobs, 2011). Health inequalities among homeless individuals have remained

significantly unchanged. Homelessness and segregation are among the aspects

associated with unfavorable outcomes. Successful intercession should be executed to

minimize health inequalities connected to homelessness.

PubMed was one of the health sites used in this article to locate relevant information. The key

terms used in the search method include housing inequalities and health inequalities,

among many others. It will be noted that other sites used in this article to collect

information include the American Healthy Housing Survey and many other sources.

Scientific information concerning housing inequalities was also reviewed, and the

connected results identified the prevailing state of knowledge, successful

intercessions, and research requirements. There were no weaknesses identified in this

article.

Yamane, D. P., Oeser, S. G., & Omori, J. (2010). Health disparities in the Native

Hawaiian homeless. Hawaii medical journal, 69(6 Suppl 3), 35.

The native Hawaiians are believed to experience poor health experiences and thus

information than other communities groups present in Hawaii. However, there is

insufficient information on whether the health inequalities increase when comparing

the native cases of the homeless population with the general homeless population.

This report explores the living standards of the native Hawaiian population living in

shelters in Oahu and determines the significant differences of disorders between

native Hawaiian and non-native Hawaiian homeless (Yamane et al., 2010). In 2006,

the county of Honolulu conducted a clean-up in the city, displacing over 200 people

and making them homeless. The displaced people added to the number of individuals

and households in this category that are already living in the west of the United States.

To mitigate the issue of homelessness, emergency shelters were constructed in Oahu,

followed by transitional shelters in Kalealou. Due to the high population of the

homeless in Hawaii, diseases started spreading, worsening the situation of those

individuals. Various organizations were introduced to address the issue of

homelessness and offer quality healthcare to the growing homeless population. One of

the organizations established is the Hawaii Homeless Outreach and Medical

Education (H.O.M.E.). The whole interventional framework was introduced to offer

free weekly medical care to the homeless, including their healthcare needs.
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Wood, L., Gazey, A., Vallesi, S., Cumming, C., & Chapple, N. (2018). Tackling Health

Disparities among People Experiencing Homelessness—The Impact of Homeless

Healthcare. The University of Western Australia: Crawley, WA, Australia.

Health and housing are among the leading basic human rights. It is extremely difficult to

separate the two from the other at any given moment. Homelessness is generally

linked higher morbidity and the situation of reduced life expectancy among other

situations. There is fiscal and public health imperative to minimize homelessness and

its associated health impacts. In 2008, homelessness healthcare was established for

the homeless people to provide clinics and healthcare in a range of community

settings.

People experiencing homelessness possess various morbidities and chronic poor health;

however, their access to quality care and other related healthcare services is much

lower compared to the general population. Barriers detected when homeless

individuals try to access quality healthcare means that they can only access quality

healthcare when their situation worsens and require more expensive and extensive

treatment. Homeless individuals are more likely to engage with the acute and more

costly end of the health system. This article displays no weaknesses.

O'Connell, J. J., Oppenheimer, S. C., Judge, C. M., Taube, R. L., Blanchfield, B. B.,

Swain, S. E., & Koh, H. K. (2010). The Boston Health Care for the Homeless

Program: a public health framework. American Journal of Public

Health, 100(8), 1400-1408.

In the recent years, the Boston healthcare concerned with the implementation of the homeless

program has transitioned into what can be regarded as the fundamental and exemplary

mechanism providing key functions and significant services required in the cases of
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public health. It will be noted that each year, the emphasis is laid on the idea of

ensuring that the program offers improved medical services, oral healthcare, and

preventive services to more than ten thousand homeless people. Homelessness

remains a complicated issue in the public health sector, magnifies poor health,

exposes these individuals to infectious and other dangerous diseases, and complicates

the management of chronic diseases.

In 1984, Boston mayor Raymond Flynn gathered a framework of over 80 people were

brought together to represent various homeless services agencies, shelters, hospitals,

medical schools, nursing homes and many others. These groups identified gaps

existing in healthcare services and presented a proposal to be considered. However,

homeless people were uninsured during that time, and quality healthcare services

were mostly inaccessible to them. This article presents no weaknesses.

Hsieh, E. (2016). Voices of the homeless: An emic approach to the experiences of health

disparities faced by people who are homeless. Social Work in Public

Health, 31(4), 328-340.

Homeless individuals are vulnerable concerning various health disparities. Instead of

focusing on the use of the population statistics that can be relied upon in capturing

and displaying the severity of the suffering associated with the majority of the

homeless people, students engaged in comprehensive interview with homeless person

whose life revolved around the local homeless shelters. This interview focused on the

well-being of the participant and his strategies that have been part of the health

management obligations. Due to various issues, this article managed to secure 16

interviews.
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The author of the article embraced thematic analysis in focusing on maintaining the depth of

the interactions between the respondents and researchers who happen to have been the

undergraduate students. The author's main aim of this article is to facilitate

comprehensive insights into the challenges and uncertainties faced by homeless

people.
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References

Hacker, K., Anies, M., Folb, B. L., & Zallman, L. (2015). Barriers to health care for

undocumented immigrants: a literature review. Risk management and healthcare

policy, 8, 175.

Henwood, B. F., Cabassa, L. J., Craig, C. M., & Padgett, D. K. (2013). Permanent supportive

housing: addressing homelessness and health disparities? American journal of public

health, 103(S2), S188-S192.

Hsieh, E. (2016). Voices of the homeless: An emic approach to the experiences of health

disparities faced by people who are homeless. Social Work in Public Health, 31(4),

328-340.

Jacobs, D. E. (2011). Environmental health disparities in housing. American journal of public

health, 101(S1), S115-S122.

Kilbourne, A. M., Beck, K., Spaeth‐Rublee, B., Ramanuj, P., O'Brien, R. W., Tomoyasu, N.,

& Pincus, H. A. (2018). Measuring and improving the quality of mental health care: a

global perspective. World Psychiatry, 17(1), 30-38.

O'Connell, J. J., Oppenheimer, S. C., Judge, C. M., Taube, R. L., Blanchfield, B. B., Swain,

S. E., & Koh, H. K. (2010). The Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program: a

public health framework. American Journal of Public Health, 100(8), 1400-1408.

Stafford, A., & Wood, L. (2017). Tackling health disparities for people who are homeless?

Start with social determinants. International journal of environmental research and

public health, 14(12), 1535.

Teruya, C., Longshore, D., Andersen, R. M., Arangua, L., Nyamathi, A., Leake, B., &

Gelberg, L. (2010). Health and health care disparities among homeless women.

Women & Health, 50(8), 719-736.

Wood, L., Gazey, A., Vallesi, S., Cumming, C., & Chapple, N. (2018). Tackling Health

Disparities among People Experiencing Homelessness—The Impact of Homeless

Healthcare. The University of Western Australia: Crawley, WA, Australia.

Yamane, D. P., Oeser, S. G., & Omori, J. (2010). Health disparities in the Native Hawaiian

homeless. Hawaii medical journal, 69(6 Suppl 3), 35.