Amenable mortality within the New Zealand homeless population: we can do better!

N Z Med J

Professor of Population Health, Medical Research Centre, University of Waikato, Hamilton.

Published: December 2020

Aim: To describe the context surrounding the deaths of homeless people in New Zealand and to determine the proportion of deaths that could be considered amenable to healthcare.

Method: We used coroners' findings related to 171 deaths of persons with "no fixed abode" at the time of death, from 2008 to 2019. Recent lists of amenable mortality from the New Zealand Ministry of Health and the Office of National Statistics in the UK were combined to determine the rate of amenable mortality.

Results: The life expectancy of homeless persons identified in this sample was 30 years shorter than in the housed population, with a mean age of death of 45.7 years. Deaths occurred mainly alone, in public spaces (56.1%) or in private vehicles (14%). Three-quarters (75.8%) of homeless persons died from conditions amenable to timely and effective healthcare interventions, mostly from natural causes (45.7%) and suicide (41.5%).

Conclusion: Homeless people experience considerable challenges when accessing the healthcare system, as uncovered by the dramatic rate of amenable mortality. Our findings highlight the urgent need to implement specific models of care that are designed to meet the social and healthcare needs of homeless persons and address the significant health inequalities they experience.

Download full-text PDF

Source

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

amenable mortality
12
homeless persons
12
mortality zealand
8
homeless people
8
rate amenable
8
amenable
6
homeless
6
zealand homeless
4
homeless population
4
population better!
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!