The health of the temporary homeless population

Abstract

Housing has long been identified as a prerequisite for good health. In Britain not all members of the population have access to housing. The homeless population may be divided into those who are ‘officially' accepted as homeless under the 1977 Housing Act and the ‘unofficial' homeless population. In Britain the number of official homeless tripled between 1978 and 1992 and is currently 143,500 households (approximately 330,500 people). Approximately one third (35%) of all those accepted as officially homeless spend some time in ‘temporary' accommodation such as ‘bed and breakfast' hotels, often located away from their home area. Using data from a large scale health survey of families living in bed and breakfast hotels it is demonstrated that the ‘official' homeless group consists almost exclusively of young families, usually headed by a lone female. This population demonstrates high rates of physical and mental morbidity when compared with the general population. The children of such families appear to experience significant health and emotion problems. The concentration of these families within specific geographical areas away from their home area can result in dislocation of informal social support mechanisms and families losing contact with statutory services in their home area. This can result in families using services in the area where they are temporarily resident. As yet it is unclear as to whether the health needs of such families are best met by generic or specialist forms of service organisation.

Key Words:

• homelessness
• mental health
• physical health
• health service use