Ra Chaelin K, Hébert Emily T, Alexander Adam, Kendzor Darla E, Suchting Robert, Businelle Michael S
Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center, Stephenson Cancer Center, Oklahoma City, OK.
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK.
J Soc Distress Homeless. 2023;32(1):42-50. doi: 10.1080/10530789.2021.1961990. Epub 2021 Aug 9.
In the United States, approximately 580,000 individuals were homeless on a single night in 2020. Homelessness can be categorized into three subgroups: sheltered homeless, unsheltered homeless, and unstably housed. Few studies have examined the relations between homelessness subtypes, shelter service utilization, levels of stress experienced, and health risk factors. This study aimed to empirically examine whether shelter status the previous night was related to current stress, recent utilization of shelter-based mental health services, and current health risk factors. Data were collected at multiple homeless shelters in 2016 in the Oklahoma City area (N=575). All participants completed assessments of demographic characteristics, including age, sex, race, marital status, years of education, and incarceration history and victimization. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine relations between homelessness subgroups and outcomes (shelter-based service utilization, health risk factors, and stressors). Results indicated that the sheltered group was younger and more likely to be White than the unsheltered group, had higher levels of education, and reported more lifetime months in jail than the unstably housed group. In addition, unsheltered homeless and unstably housed adults used fewer shelter-based health services, exhibited more health risk factors, experienced greater levels of stress, and had higher levels of food insecurity than sheltered homeless adults. Homeless adults who reside at shelters benefit most from available shelter services. The development of policies and programs targeted toward increasing sheltering options for unsheltered and unstably housed adults is needed.
2020年，在美国某一晚约有58万人无家可归。无家可归可分为三个亚组：有庇护的无家可归者、无庇护的无家可归者和居住不稳定者。很少有研究探讨无家可归亚型、庇护服务利用情况、所经历的压力水平和健康风险因素之间的关系。本研究旨在实证检验前一晚的庇护状况是否与当前压力、近期对基于庇护所的心理健康服务的利用情况以及当前健康风险因素有关。2016年在俄克拉荷马城地区的多个无家可归者庇护所收集了数据（N = 575）。所有参与者完成了人口统计学特征评估，包括年龄、性别、种族、婚姻状况、受教育年限、监禁史和受害情况。进行了多项线性和逻辑回归分析，以检验无家可归亚组与结果（基于庇护所的服务利用情况、健康风险因素和压力源）之间的关系。结果表明，有庇护的群体比无庇护的群体更年轻，更有可能是白人，受教育程度更高，并且报告的入狱总月数比居住不稳定的群体更多。此外，无庇护的无家可归者和居住不稳定的成年人使用的基于庇护所的健康服务较少，表现出更多健康风险因素，经历的压力水平更高，并且比有庇护的无家可归成年人有更高程度的粮食不安全。居住在庇护所的无家可归成年人从现有的庇护服务中受益最大。需要制定政策和计划，以增加针对无庇护和居住不稳定成年人的庇护选择。
