School of Psychology & Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
Am J Community Psychol. 2012 Mar;49(1-2):142-55. doi: 10.1007/s10464-011-9444-z.
The paper presents findings from a longitudinal study identifying different classes of homeless individuals in a mid-size Canadian city based on health-related characteristics and comparing the housing trajectories of these classes 2 years later. Using data collected through in-person interviews with a sample of 329 single persons who have experienced homelessness, the paper presents results of a latent class analysis. Results found four distinct latent classes characterized by different levels of severity of health problems--i.e., a class of individuals who are "Higher Functioning" (28.7%), a second class with "Substance Abuse Problems" (27.1%), a third class with "Mental Health Substance Abuse Problems" (22.6%), and a fourth class with "Complex Physical and Mental Health Problems" (21.6%) that included having diminished physical functioning, multiple chronic physical health conditions, mental health difficulties, and in some cases substance abuse problems. Follow-up interviews with 197 of these individuals (59.9%) 2 years later showed the class of individuals with substance abuse problems experiencing the greatest difficulty in exiting homelessness and achieving housing stability. Implications of these findings for social policy development and program planning are discussed.
本文根据健康相关特征，在加拿大一个中等城市确定了不同类别的无家可归者，并对这些类别在两年后的住房轨迹进行了比较，提出了一项纵向研究的结果。该研究使用通过对 329 名经历过无家可归的单身人士进行面对面访谈收集的数据，介绍了潜在类别分析的结果。研究结果发现了四个不同的潜在类别，这些类别以健康问题的严重程度为特征，即“功能较高”的一类（28.7%）、第二类“滥用药物问题”（27.1%）、第三类“心理健康和药物滥用问题”（22.6%）和第四类“复杂的身心健康问题”（21.6%），这些类别包括身体功能减退、多种慢性身体健康状况、心理健康困难，以及在某些情况下存在药物滥用问题。两年后对其中 197 人（59.9%）进行的后续访谈显示，滥用药物问题类别的人在摆脱无家可归和实现住房稳定方面遇到了最大的困难。本文讨论了这些发现对社会政策制定和计划规划的意义。
