There have always been homeless people in the United States, but their plight has only recently stirred widespread public reaction and concern. Part of this new recognition stems from the problem's prevalence: the number of homeless individuals, while hard to pin down exactly, is rising. In light of this, Congress asked the Institute of Medicine to find out whether existing health care programs were ignoring the homeless or delivering care to them inefficiently. This book is the report prepared by a committee of experts who examined these problems through visits to city slums and impoverished rural areas, and through an analysis of papers written by leading scholars in the field.

Healthcare Access - Regional Overviews is a compilation of ten chapters consisting of case studies, research works, reviews, and expert opinions providing insight on the previous and current developments in the field of hygiene and infection control with practices to prevent or minimize the spread of infectious diseases. The book also addresses the status and healthcare access of the most neglected segments in less developed countries. All chapters are written by global researchers are edited by experts in the field. The information presented in this work can be replicated at different levels to accelerate timely and quality healthcare services.

Offers proven strategies for advancing the care of the homeless elderly Filled with key insights and field-tested knowledge, this is a concise, hands-on guide to how interdisciplinary team strategies can advance the care of older homeless adults. The book encompasses research evidence, education-based initiatives, and systems thinking, and describes how to implement promising health care outlooks for diverse elderly populations in a variety of localities. Chapters address the many challenges to caring for homeless individuals by integrating a team vision for adopting transformation and geriatrics health care workforce education. The book provides an overview of population demographics and trends and discusses specific medical/psychological care challenges including the spread of infectious diseases. It covers the delivery of care to homeless patients, complex ethical and legal issues, housing, social economics, family disruption and abuse, end-of-life considerations, and political and policy challenges. With abundant case studies and discussions about successes and failures in homeless geriatric health care, the book provides a framework for the joint efforts of social worker, nurse, mental health professional, physician, and other health care professionals to provide optimal care for older homeless populations. Key Features: Presents the most current resources, evidence, and developments for interdisciplinary care of older homeless populations Written by an interprofessional health care workforce with abundant clinical and academic experience in the field Focuses on implementing, developing, and adopting health care strategies to provide for care of the frail homeless elderly Includes case studies and discussions of successes and failures Addresses challenges, barriers, resolutions, and opportunities for homeless geriatric care

Chronic homelessness is a highly complex social problem of national importance. The problem has elicited a variety of societal and public policy responses over the years, concomitant with fluctuations in the economy and changes in the demographics of and attitudes toward poor and disenfranchised citizens. In recent decades, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the philanthropic community have worked hard to develop and implement programs to solve the challenges of homelessness, and progress has been made. However, much more remains to be done. Importantly, the results of various efforts, and especially the efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans in recent years, have shown that the problem of homelessness can be successfully addressed. Although a number of programs have been developed to meet the needs of persons experiencing homelessness, this report focuses on one particular type of intervention: permanent supportive housing (PSH). Permanent Supportive Housing focuses on the impact of PSH on health care outcomes and its cost-effectiveness. The report also addresses policy and program barriers that affect the ability to bring the PSH and other housing models to scale to address housing and health care needs.

Drawing on interdisciplinary, cross-national perspectives, this open access book contributes to the development of a coherent scientific discourse on social exclusion of older people. The book considers five domains of exclusion (services; economic; social relations; civic and socio-cultural; and community and spatial domains), with three chapters dedicated to analysing different dimensions of each exclusion domain. The book also examines the interrelationships between different forms of exclusion, and how outcomes and processes of different kinds of exclusion can be related to one another. In doing so, major cross-cutting themes, such as rights and identity, inclusive service infrastructures, and displacement of marginalised older adult groups, are considered. Finally, in a series of chapters written by international policy stakeholders and policy researchers, the book analyses key policies relevant to social exclusion and older people, including debates linked to sustainable development, EU policy and social rights, welfare and pensions systems, and planning and development. The book’s approach helps to illuminate the comprehensive multidimensionality of social exclusion, and provides insight into the relative nature of disadvantage in later life. With 77 contributors working across 28 nations, the book presents a forward-looking research agenda for social exclusion amongst older people, and will be an important resource for students, researchers and policy stakeholders working on ageing.

Although ageing people are a significant segment of the homeless population, they have largely been ignored by service providers and policy makers. This remarkable book sets out to remedy this situation and offers new search on the causes of homelessness. Partial life histories have been collected from older homeless people and their pathways into homelessness traced. Although the book is about older homeless people, many of them have been homeless since they were teenagers or since early adulthood. It therefore examines the reasons for homelessness at all stages of the life course. The book discusses the circumstances, problems and needs of older homeless people, looks at how services are responding, and makes recommendations for service development. Case studies are used throughout to assist explanations. This book has much to offer a wide audience including service-providers, policymakers, healthcare workers, housing and social services workers, gerontologists and sociologists. Because it is easy to read, it is accessible to lay readers. It will be of interest to a British audience and an international audience, particularly in countries such as America and Australia where innovations in services for homeless older people ate rapidly developing.

Longtime Urban Institute researcher Martha Burt and her co-authors provide an in-depth analysis of homelessness, exploring issues such as how many homeless people there are in America, where they are, why they became homeless, how long their homelessness lasts, the different ways programs in different communities are helping the homeless, and how policymakers have approached the problem. Finally, they consider what societies may be willing to do reduce the probability that their members will become homeless. c. Book News Inc.

The challenges facing military veterans who return to civilian life in the United States are persistent and well documented. But for all the political outcry and attempts to improve military members' readjustments, veterans of all service eras face formidable obstacles related to mental health, substance abuse, employment, and — most damningly — homelessness. Homelessness Among U.S. Veterans synthesizes the new glut of research on veteran homelessness — geographic trends, root causes, effective and ineffective interventions to mitigate it — in a format that provides a needed reference as this public health fight continues to be fought. Codifying the data and research from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) campaign to end veteran homelessness, psychologist Jack Tsai links disparate lines of research to produce an advanced and elegant resource on a defining social issue of our time.

Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.