Everyday discrimination among formerly homeless persons in permanent supportive housing

ABSTRACT

Experiences of discrimination are associated with poor health and are particularly common among persons experiencing homelessness. Permanent supportive housing (PSH) provides a foundation for improved well-being among persons with homelessness histories, but research on discrimination among this population is limited. We examined changes in experiences of, and perceived reasons for, everyday discrimination when persons moved into PSH. 421 adults in Los Angeles County completed baseline (pre-housing), 3-, 6- or 12-month post-housing structured interviews. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) examined change in discrimination outcomes, controlling for demographic characteristics. Everyday discrimination experiences decreased significantly when persons moved from homelessness into PSH, and remained consistently lower across the first year in PSH. Reports of homelessness/poverty, race/ethnicity, and neighborhood as reasons for discrimination also decreased from baseline levels. PSH may offer respite from everyday discrimination, but the persistence of discrimination and particularly racism in society requires structural solutions addressing implicit bias and systemic inequities.

KEYWORDS:

• Discrimination
• homelessness
• permanent supportive housing
• formerly homeless persons
• bias

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of our study participants, who generously shared their stories with us over the course of this research. We would also like to thank this study’s co-investigators, Drs. Eric Rice and Benjamin Henwood, for their contributions to the conceptualization and implementation of this research, as well as our dedicated study staff.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Suzanne L. Wenzel is a community psychologist and the Richard and Ann Thor Professor in Urban Social Development at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California. Her research focuses on health in social ecological contexts among persons with lived experiences of homelessness.

Harmony Rhoades is an Associate Research Professor at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, and Associate Director of the USC Center for LGBT Health Equity. Her research focuses on physical and mental health, substance use, and housing.

Wichada La Motte-Kerr is a doctoral student at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California. Her research interest centers around the health and wellbeing of persons who experienced homelessness; more specifically she is interested in sexual risk behavior, substance abuse, and interpersonal violence.

Lei Duan is a biostatistician at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California. Her research focuses on longitudinal data analysis and its application with health related data.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse [grant number R01 DA36345] (PI: Dr. Suzanne L. Wenzel).