Lorvick Jennifer, Hemberg Jordana L, Browne Erica N, Alter Harrison, Comfort Megan L
Community Health and Implementation Research Program, RTI International.
Global Public Health Impact Center, RTI International.
J Soc Distress Homeless. 2023;32(2):377-380. doi: 10.1080/10530789.2022.2060460. Epub 2022 Apr 12.
The COVID-19 outbreak fueled unprecedented public health efforts to mitigate the spread of infection, including rapid provision of non-congregate housing to people experiencing homelessness. People on community supervision (criminal probation or parole) have high levels of homelessness due to housing discrimination, poverty and racism, and are among the groups most vulnerable to COVID-19. We examined housing status in a cohort of women with probation histories in Alameda County, CA before and after the COVID-19 outbreak (N=204). Before March 2020, 38% of women in the cohort reporting being homeless (95% CI: 34-43%), a level that was consistent over 2 years. As of August 2020, 15% of the cohort was homeless (95% CI: 10-20%; relative risk [RR] 0.40, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.55; p<0.001). During a period of assertive public health efforts to reduce COVID-19 risk through provision of housing, we found meaningful reductions in homelessness in this sample of vulnerable women.
新冠疫情引发了前所未有的公共卫生行动，以减缓感染传播，包括迅速为无家可归者提供非群居性住房。因住房歧视、贫困和种族主义，处于社区监管（刑事缓刑或假释）的人群中有大量无家可归者，他们也是最易感染新冠病毒的群体之一。我们调查了加利福尼亚州阿拉米达县有缓刑历史的女性队列在新冠疫情爆发前后的住房状况（N = 204）。2020年3月之前，该队列中38%的女性报告无家可归（95%置信区间：34 - 43%），这一水平在两年间保持稳定。截至2020年8月，该队列中有15%的人无家可归（95%置信区间：10 - 20%；相对风险[RR] 0.40，95%置信区间：0.28，0.55；p < 0.001）。在通过提供住房积极开展公共卫生行动以降低新冠风险的期间，我们发现这一弱势女性样本中的无家可归情况有显著减少。
