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Homelessness and health care: lessons and policy considerations from the COVID-19 pandemic
Homelessness and health care: lessons and policy considerations from the COVID-19 pandemic
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Issue brief (California HealthCare Foundation)
- Contributor(s):
- California HealthCare Foundation, issuing body.
Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc., issuing body. - Publication:
- [Oakland, CA] : California Health Care Foundation, March 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- COVID-19
Delivery of Health Care
Ill-Housed Persons
California
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- The health, economic, and social impacts of COVID-19 have rippled across the globe. Nationally, there have been over 28 million infections since the pandemic erupted, and over 520,000 deaths. COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted communities of color and continues to impact people living in poverty, older adults in nursing facilities, persons with disabilities, and people experiencing multiple chronic conditions. COVID-19 has presented an unprecedented challenge to federal, state, and local public health agencies, which have sought to contain virus spread through a mix of approaches, including social distancing, mask requirements, improved hygiene, and quarantine and isolation practices. For people experiencing homelessness, adhering to these protective measures has been even more challenging, putting them at greater risk for contracting COVID-19. More than 150,000 people experience homelessness in California on any given day. People who are homeless have higher rates of illness and die on average 12 years sooner than the general US population. People living in shelters are more than twice as likely to have a disability compared to the general population,3 and community survey data indicate that over one-quarter of people experiencing homelessness have severe mental illness and nearly 35% have a chronic substance use disorder. Chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease, respiratory tract conditions, dental disease, and HIV/AIDS are found at high rates among the homeless population, placing people experiencing homelessness at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19.5 Additionally, people experiencing homelessness who contract COVID-19 are two to four times more likely to require critical care and two to three time as likely to die compared to the general population.6 The saying goes that necessity is the mother of invention. This is illustrated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the innovative approaches developed by California’s health care and homeless services providers and their partners. While much remains unknown at the one-year mark of the pandemic, California may consider how to strategically evaluate and advance some of the innovations that will continue to better serve this population beyond the pandemic.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (13 pages)).
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918366888206676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918366888206676