Homelessness, housing instability and mental health: making the connections

2020/06/15 by Deborah K. Padgett · 1 citation
Health Professions · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Homelessness and Social Issues #Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism #Urban and Rural Development Challenges

paper · pdf · doi:10.1192/bjb.2020.49

openalex publication_date 2020/06/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

Research on the bi-directional relationship between mental health and homelessness is reviewed and extended to consider a broader global perspective, highlighting structural factors that contribute to housing instability and its mental ill health sequelae. Local, national and international initiatives to address housing and mental health include Housing First in Western countries and promising local programmes in India and Africa. Ways that psychiatrists and physicians can be agents of changes range from brief screening for housing stability to structural competence training. Narrow medico-scientific framing of these issues risks losing sight of the foundational importance of housing to mental health and well-being.

Citations

• An Anthropology of Structural Violence
• Housing First for People with Severe Mental Illness Who are Homeless: A Review of the Research and Findings from the at Home—Chez soi Demonstration Project
• A theory of human motivation.

Cited by

• Homelessness in the United States [wikipedia]

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