Mental Health and Houselessness

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Mental health issues and a lack of stability in housing unfortunately go hand-in-hand. It isn’t just that a person
dealing with poor mental health is at higher risk of houselessness but that experiencing houselessness
also puts individuals at higher risk of mental health issues and causes them to need more time spent in
recovery. It is a vicious cycle and it disproportionately affects people of color and youths.

 

 


A study run by Rupert Talmage Van Wormer in Seattle found that the amount of time enrolled in the downtown
emergency service center SAGE program had a direct impact on an individual's risk of future houselessness.
The study sample consisted of 380 patients who had continuous enrollment in 2005 and reported its findings
in 2007. The study found that African-American patients, younger patients and low-income patients had a
higher association of houselessness. It also found that patients who retained services for the 3 year duration
of the study had a lower rate of houselessness and incarceration. 

 

 

 


 

There was another study by Caroline King, Cameron Fisher, Jacob Johnson, Arum Chun, David Bangsberg and
Paula Carder which looked at the treatment of houseless people by medical workers. The study was based
on 38 participants and found that they were stigmatized by medical professionals and received worse care
on average as a result. This is a major issue as those who are without shelter to live in all likelihood need more
care than the average person and not less. 

 

We can take away from this study the idea that if we have more resources for those facing mental health issues 
and a more positive association with mental health treatment that fewer people would face issues of houselessness.
It also stands to reason that if we maintain better resources to keep people in their homes and not living on the
street then we wouldn’t need to worry as much about issues of mental health. 

 

Written by Sam Welty

 

 
King, Fisher, C., Johnson, J., Chun, A., Bangsberg, D., & Carder, P. (2020). Community-derived recommendations
for healthcare systems and medical students to support people who are houseless in Portland, Oregon: a mixed-methods
study. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1–1337. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09444-4



Van Wormer, & Portland State University. Social Work Social Research Ph. D. Program. (2012). Risk factors for
homelessness among community mental health patients with severe mental illness. Portland State University. Social Work
and Social Research. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/653/



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