Healthcare barriers among severely mentally ill homeless adults: evidence from the five-site health and risk study.

作者信息

Kim Mimi M, Swanson Jeffrey W, Swartz Marvin S, Bradford Daniel W, Mustillo Sarah A, Elbogen Eric B

机构信息

Services Effectiveness Research Program in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Brightleaf Square Suite 23-A, 905 West Main Street, Durham, NC 27710, USA.

出版信息

Adm Policy Ment Health. 2007 Jul;34(4):363-75. doi: 10.1007/s10488-007-0115-1. Epub 2007 Feb 9.

UNLABELLED

Few studies have examined barriers to physical and mental healthcare among homeless mentally adults.

METHODS

This study examined physical and mental healthcare barriers reported by 154 recently homeless mentally ill persons.

RESULTS

Practical concerns (e.g. transportation and cost) were key components of barriers to accessing general medical care among uninsured men with poorer overall mental health, PTSD, and STD infections. Perceived stigma was an important component of mental healthcare barriers reported most frequently by those with greater psychiatric symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Focusing on individual characteristics underlying barriers to healthcare may lead to better interventions for improving access to needed care.