This work analyses the difficulties encounter to determine who should be considered a homeless person in a developing country, and the result of a point-in-time count of homeless people done in the city of Leon (185,000 inhabitants), Nicaragua. Throughout the point-in-time count, 82 unduplicated persons living homeless were tallied (76% male; 23% female); 11% were under age. Half of the homeless detected seemed to have problems related to mental health, alcohol and drugs, and/or wounds, dermatological or dental problems. Sixty-nine percent showed a bad physical appearance, 74% had poor personal hygiene, and 80% had the dirty or very dirty clothes.

Homelessness is a global phenomenon that affects groups in situations of poverty and social exclusion, in both developed and developing nations. However, the scientific literature on homeless people in developing countries is scant. This work shows the difficulties defining homelessness and examines the necessary criteria for who will be deemed a homeless person in a developing country. Furthermore, the results of the Point-In-Time (PIT) count of homeless people-a measure of the number of homeless people on a specific day-done in the city of León, Nicaragua (population: 185,000). Throughout the PIT count, 82 unduplicated people living in homelessness were tallied (76% male, 23% female), of which 47 answered a questionnaire. Most of the homeless people in León are male, mestizo, of Nicaraguan nationality, with a primary level education or less, and in a situation of chronic homelessness. Results showed a mean age of 47 years for these individuals. Most of the homeless people showed a bad physical appearance, had poor personal hygiene, and wore dirty clothing. Around half of the homeless observed seemed to have problems related to mental health, alcohol, and/or drugs. (PsycINFO Database Record

Nicaragua is one of Latin America's least developed countries and has a lack of data on homeless people, a stigmatized group living in extreme poverty. We conducted structured interviews with homeless people living in the city of León (Nicaragua; n = 41) to obtain data on the quantity, types, timing, and perceived causality of stressful life events (SLEs) experienced during their childhood and adolescence as well as throughout their adult lives. The findings showed that our participants had experienced a high number of extremely severe SLEs at very early ages and most of these SLEs occurred before they first became homeless. In terms of the perceived causal relationship between SLEs and homelessness, the interviewees mainly attributed being homeless to material, affective, or relationship factors, or an excessive consumption of alcohol and/or drugs. Suffering from multiple and serious SLEs, largely due to living in socioeconomically disadvantaged environments, appears to be an important vulnerability factor in both becoming homeless and chronic homelessness.

Health-care and social service providers affected by climate-related disasters play a pivotal role in response and recovery but yet are at a disproportionate risk for mental health symptoms such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), secondary traumatic stress, anxiety, and burnout. Factors such as social support and resilience may protect these providers from stress related symptoms. To explore providers' responses to recent disasters, this study examined mental health distress, work-related stress, and protective factors in Texas and Puerto Rico-both of which were struck by hurricanes in 2017. This study was conducted with N ϭ 1,101 health-care and social service providers 10 to 12 months after hurricanes Harvey and Maria. Providers completed measures of PTSD, anxiety, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, compassion satisfaction, social support, and resilience. Frequencies were calculated to determine percentages of those who scored above the clinical cutoff for mental health symptoms. One-way analyses of variance explored differences in mental health symptoms between Texas and Puerto Rico. Bivariate correlations examined the relationships between all measures. Puerto Rican participants scored significantly higher on measures of PTSD, anxiety, and compassion satisfaction. Participants in Texas reported significantly higher burnout and resilience. Measures of PTSD, anxiety, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress were positively correlated. Social support, resilience, and compassion satisfaction were inversely correlated with measures of distress. Findings confirm high rates of mental health distress among providers during the disaster recovery. Given our findings, it is critical for accessible, evidence-informed interventions be available for providers.

Retraction among female victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) who report their abuser is a major problem in all societies. This article describes a study of 136 female victims of physical IPV living in poverty in Nicaragua, one of the countries with the lowest levels of development in Central America. This article analyses the aspects that differentiate women living in poverty who retracted after reporting IPV from those who did not. The results show that retraction is widespread among female victims of IPV living in poverty in León (Nicaragua). Although it is difficult to predict the retraction behaviour of the respondents, some differences between the women who retracted their complaint and those who did not were observed. A combination of five variables (including personal circumstances and beliefs about the intimate partner relationship and family) was the best alternative for discriminating between women who had retracted and those who had not.