No fixed abode - Its definition in clinical practice

Abstract

Seventy psychiatrists who participated in on call rotas were circulated with ten brief scenarios depicting a variety of homeless situations, and were asked to determine whether they should be defined as No Fixed Abode for the purpose of admission. There was a sixty nine percent response rate and widely varying concordance between psychiatrists from one scenario to another, with only four of the ten items attracting greater than eighty percent agreement and two items sixty percent or less. Results suggested that psychiatrists use settledness as an underlying operational definition of homelessness in contrast to an official definition based on the nature of the residential establishment. Local policies on No Fixed Abode referrals need to be formulated to minimise conflict at the point of admission.