Homelessness In The United States

Homelessness continues to be a significant problem in the United States. Women and families represent the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. Homeless women are a very vulnerable population and have many very dipartites. With the vulnerability model, the four domains biological, environmental, sociocultural, and behavioral makeup what factors homeless women have to deal with on a daily bases. Nurses have to follow a set of codes to make sure the patients have the best care even in their situation. As health care providers can help address the needs of homeless individuals by identifying their own patients who may be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, educating these patients about available resources in the community, …show more content…
Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Homelessness exists when people lack safe, stable, and appropriate places to live. Sheltered and unsheltered people are homeless. People living doubled up or in overcrowded living situations or motels because of inadequate economic resources are included in this definition, as are those living in tents or other temporary enclosures (Association, 2015). Some subpopulations include: refugees and immigrants, people living with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), alcohol and substance abusers, high-risk mothers and infants, victims of family or other violence, and the chronically or mentally ill. Among these vulnerable sub populations, one with some of the greatest health and health care disparities, is the homeless. Health and health care disparities for the homeless are particularly distressing for homeless women. Compared to the general population of women, homeless women's health disparities include higher rates of mortality, poor health status, mental illness, substance abuse, victimization, and poor birth outcomes (Association, …show more content…
Factors that fit in this domain for homelessness are extreme poverty, inadequate wages, limited education, family structure, changes in labor market, lack of social support, and lack of insurance and health care access (Lange, 2015). Another reason why women become homeless is because they experience poverty. Of the 46.2 million Americans currently living in poverty, almost 25 million or 55 percent are women (Homeless, 2012). Over 17 million women lived in poverty in 2010, including more than 7.5 million in extreme poverty, with an income below half of the federal poverty line, defined as $11,139 for an individual (Homeless, 2012). With women, inadequate wages is another huge part of them being homeless. The typical woman who worked full-time, year-round in 2010 still made only 77 cents for each dollar earned by her male counterpart. Also, As a result of wage inequality, women own only 36 percent as much wealth as men. Additionally, because unemployment benefits are tied to past wages and women’s wages lag behind men’s, unemployed women receive less in unemployment benefits than men (Homeless, 2012). Factors that contribute to homeless women being unable to obtain needed health care include the lack of health insurance, the inability to purchase or acquire medications, the lack of knowledge of where and when to obtain health care. Also, long wait times at medical facilities, and the lack of transportation to

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