Where do people go when they first become homeless? A survey of homeless adults in the USA.

The longer a person is homeless, the more likely he or she is to experience poor health and be placed at higher risk for premature death. This makes interventions early in one's homelessness an important prevention strategy. However, little is known about where someone goes for help when they first become homeless and how well those sites are prepared to address the multitude of issues facing a homeless person.

Substance-abusing urban homeless in the late 1990s: how do they differ from non-substance-abusing homeless persons?

Much of our understanding of substance abuse and homelessness comes from data from the 1980s and may not necessarily reflect issues or trends prevalent during the 1990s. We report data from a two-city, community-based, populations-proportionate sample of 531 randomly selected homeless adults; the study was conducted in 1997 and compared substance-abusing to non-substance-abusing respondents. Most (78.

Self-reported changes in drug and alcohol use after becoming homeless.

Objectives: We identified substance use patterns and factors associated with increased substance use after users become homeless.

Methods: We carried out a 2-city, community-based survey that used population-proportionate sampling of 91 sites with random selection at each site.

Results: Five hundred thirty-one adults were interviewed; 78.

ASAM Patient Placement Criteria treatment levels: do they correspond to care actually received by homeless substance abusing adults?

We report findings from a community-based two-city survey of homeless adults comparing the level of substance abuse treatment assigned to them using the ASAM Patient Placement Criteria with care actually received during the previous 12 months. Overall 531 adults were surveyed with 382 meeting DSM-IIIR criteria of being in need of treatment or having a demand for treatment. Of those with a treatment need, 1.

Health care of homeless veterans.

It is important to understand the needs of those veterans who are homeless. We describe characteristics of homeless male veterans and factors associated with needing VA benefits from a two-city, community survey of 531 homeless adults. Overall, 425 were male, of whom 127 were veterans (29.

Urban homelessness and poverty during economic prosperity and welfare reform: changes in self-reported comorbidities, insurance, and sources for usual care, 1995-1997.

Little is known of how homeless and other urban poor populations have fared during the robust economy and within structural changes in health care delivery and entitlement programs of the 1990s. This is important in determining the need for population-specific services during a vigorous economy with low unemployment and increasing Medicaid managed-care penetration. This study compared health insurance status and availability of a source for usual medical care, psychiatric and substance abuse comorbidities, and perceived causes of homelessness in homeless adults surveyed in 1995 and 1997.