Homelessness has been described as a doom loop. The epidemic exposes its victims to horrible living conditions. Insecurity is increased. And with many of them being unemployed, it makes sense to wonder whether or not homeless people have good health.
Do Homeless People Have Good Health?
This question will be touched on from different perspectives.
Substance Abuse
Homelessness is adverse and severely depressing. Hence, some people without accommodation are big on substance abuse. Studies have shown that substance abuse is common among people living in the streets. Around 26% of people without homes in the US are reported to be dependent on some substance. Homeless children in Egypt also consume substance, usually inhalants, as a coping strategy, with little or no care about the corollary risks.
There are many risks associated with drug abuse. Besides medical issues, there mental ones. This leads to the next point.
Mental Health
Experts have said homelessness is a cause and consequence of mental illness. This means mental health issues can lead to homelessness and vice versa.
Let’s focus on people who develop mental health issues during homelessness. Living in the streets is so agonizing some chronically homeless people are losing their humanity and minds. In the United States, for example, around 30% of rough sleepers have mental illnesses.
In Kingston Avenue, Philadelphia, the whole place is filled with unhoused individuals who can well be described as destroyed by substance abuse. These people may not have exactly lost their minds during homelessness. They’re drug addict, abusing opioids.
Chronic Health Conditions
Homelessness exposes its victims to an unbelievable level of insecurities, from physical to medical…
People living without housing experience more crimes than the general public. Injuries sustained from assaults, for example, don’t always get good medical attention. The homeless also have relatively poor hygiene which also exposes them to various infections. Further, the fact that they’re exposed to harsh climatic conditions is also risky. Excessive heat from the Sun can cause sunburns and skin cancer, while excessive cold can cause pneumonia…
Lastly in this section, a great deal of hobos also suffer from various chronic medical conditions. A study done on unhoused people in California revealed a significant number of people experiencing homelessness are living with serious medical defects. Without money, it’s difficult for them to take proper medical care of themselves. This leads to the next point.
No Money
It’s a well-known fact that the primary cause of homelessness is poverty. And study shows that a lot of homeless people are either unemployed, or are employed to jobs with unsustainable pays. In this way, they can’t afford necessities. Now if people get evicted, for example, because they could no longer meet up with their housing leases, due to to poverty or due to high costs of living together with low salaries, it is clear that, at best, they can hardly afford medical care for themselves and, at worst, they can’t.
Many manage or bear their unmanageable health conditions unattended to or with inadequate medical attention.
Lack of Medical Assistance
Homeless people generally don’t get enough attention across the world. While the US is doing a lot for its homeless population, the situation keep worsening. Similarly, homelessness keeps growing across the world, and, sadly, the pandemic is associated with diseases and sicknesses. The steady growth of it is evidence to the fact that unhoused people don’t get enough support in general and medical support in particular.
Homeless people are victims of circumstances and need human help.
