Homelessness is a worldwide issue. Homelessness can be the result of social, economic, and some health-related factors. Due to a lack of housing, people get short life span or illness. Homeless people are suffering from major chronic conditions. The aim of this essay is to show the experiences, healthcare needs, and strategies to improve the health condition of homeless people effectively.
There are some experiences of homeless people in streets, under-bridges, or in parks. The interviewed participants are J and D under the age of 30 to 60. Their names are not mentioned owing to privacy issues. Their education levels are different for each person. Both are Australian-born. There are different durations of time of homelessness, depending on their age. Elder homeless people face mostly age-related issues.
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Break down of personal relationship also cause homelessness due to emotional weakness. This happened in the case of J, who is 58 and become homeless when his marriage broke up. He became depressed due to the end of his marriage and owing to the depression he also lost his job because under stress he didn’t work properly, and he quit the job because he was thinking that he quickly finds the other job. But he didn’t find any other job. He also lost his home because he had taken a mortgage before the broke-up of his marriage and after quitting the job he was unable to pay the payments of the mortgage and his home was repossessed. This also cause mental illness and he couldn’t cope with this situation and started drinking too much. He was moving from one place to another place. He is sleeping in parks, under bridges, or on streets. He told that homelessness is a feeling of restlessness. He told that mental health is changing due to no money, family, and food. It totally changes the state of mind of people.
Homelessness is also due to mental illness. In the case of D, who is 35. She became homeless due to mental illness. She left her job because she doesn’t feel well. She went to stay with her family, but her father told her to leave. Then he started living with her friends. She was still struggling with mental illness and at night she got a panic attack. So, her friends told her that she was no more to live with them. Then she was also trying to live in a local hostel, but they turned her away by asking that this hostel is only for men. She is so depressed and didn’t know where she goes to live. In the end, she told homelessness is powerlessness, feeling unsafe, and living in fear.
From these two interviews, homelessness is a lack of privacy, feeling unsafe, mental illness or drug addiction, and feeling of ignorance or invisibility. The life of homeless people is so hard. The feeling of rejection leads them towards crime or mental illness. Homeless people are facing serious health issues like seizure disorders, arthritis, cardiovascular disorders, injuries, and disabilities also. They also have drug addictions or alcohol abuse. The participants share the fear of dying in the parks or under the bridges. They are facing emotional distress. They feel like they got failures in life in everything.
There is a great need to change the attitude towards homeless people by nurses or by any healthcare workers. This helps the homeless people to tell about their disease or problems comfortably to the healthcare worker. Healthcare workers need to listen carefully and understand the problems that are faced by them every day. Nurses need to provide respectful care to homeless people.
In conclusion, the findings of this study are appropriate for healthcare professionals who are dealing with homeless people during their job. Nurses need to be concerned about the needs of homeless people. Poverty and unemployment are the main causes of homelessness. It is also caused by natural disasters. The goal should be re-establishing homeless people in communities. There should be adequate medical centers for homeless people. Social policies, to develop equitably is also helping homeless peoples to get rid of homelessness.