The health of rural homeless women with young children.

More than 30 percent of the homeless are families with children; however, little is known about these families, particularly rural homeless mothers with children. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of rural homeless mothers, their physical and mental health, and their health care practices. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to study a sample of 76 rural mothers with children younger than age 13. An interview schedule and the SCL-90-R were used to collect data about these families. The majority of the families had been homeless for more than four months, 46 percent were woman-headed, 17 percent of the mothers reported having a physical health problem, and only 3 percent had scores on the SCL-90-R that were indicative of needing additional evaluation for possible mental health problems. The use of drugs was higher than expected, which puts both the mothers and their children at risk for health problems.