Homeless Veterans

According to a study done in 2012, 80% of homeless adults reported smoking cigarettes. However in a different study done by the CDC in 2012 estimated 18.1% of adults smoked in the United States. There is an inadequate amount of information about quit rates, relapse rates, and effective smoking cessation methods for the homeless population. This open pilot study by the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, is trying to address all of those issues. They followed and worked with 20 homeless veterans who either smoked 10 cigarettes daily for 1 or more years or a had a Carbon Monoxide baseline level greater than 10 ppm. They used a multicomponent treatment that included behavioral intervention, counseling sessions (cognitive behavioral therapy), …show more content…
In this sample population, only 10% (n=20) of the participants did not suffer from some kind of mental disorder. A 2011 study by Tsai, Edens, and Rosenheck found that among the VA service users, the homeless are four times as more likely smoke and those with a personally disorder are three times more likely to smoke. Even though many veterans can get cheap or even free health benefits, if they lack the proper skills they will not get proper treatment. This public health issue of homeless veterans that smoke can be eased with health literacy training. For many, the core of their problem lies with their mental illness. Those with severe mental illnesses tend to become anxious and withdrawn which usually leads to them pushing away those who are trying to keep them from becoming homeless. Even if programs such as Housing First get these homeless veterans into permanent housing, they are likely to quickly lose it if their illnesses are not treated. Improving health literacy must work hand in hand with supportive programs that will allow individuals to get proper …show more content…
One aspect of poor health literacy is the lack of primary and secondary prevention and a focus on tertiary prevention. Homelessness and smoking are both important public health issues that can be fixed with proper preventive action. It cost more the stop and fix something than it does to prevent it from ever happening. Race, mental health and education are all factors that influence health literacy. However health literacy alone is not enough, there has to be programs and services available to those who with health literacy. If the population has the information or the skill set required to obtain necessary information but there are no places to carry out primary or secondary prevention, it is redundant. The same goes is there are a plethora of services, but the population lacks the skills to make the most of it then it all goes to waste. Health equity can only be achieved through health

Show More