Cognitive Impairments and the Prevention of Homelessness: Research and Practice Review

Abstract

Cognitive impairments can increase significantly a person's level of risk for becoming or remaining homeless. Five topics are explored that address these impairments in preventing homelessness: (1) the nature and estimated prevalence of cognitive impairments among people who are homeless, especially those with vulnerabilities like mental illness or substance abuse; (2) the multiple origins of these impairments; (3) how these impairments impact services for people at risk for homelessness; (4) good practice approaches to handling cognitive impairments in homeless shelters, supported housing programs, and other service systems for people at risk for homelessness; and, (5) important research and practice issues requiring further action.

Cognitive Deficit and Mental Health in Homeless Transition-Age Youth

“…Each item is a list of 4 statements about a symptom of depression, arranged in increasing severity from 0 to 3. The BDI-II total score is the sum of all items and can be interpreted as minimal (0-13), mild (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19), moderate (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28), and severe (29-63). Cronbach' s a for the BDI-II is 0.91.…”

“…13 There is increasing recognition of the cognitive consequences of socioeconomic adversity, such as impaired learning and limited acquisition of the skills needed for academic, vocational, and independent living success into adulthood. 14 Thus, without intervention, impaired neurocognition may contribute to the persistence of poverty across generations.…”

“…12,13 Indeed, homeless adults display higher rates of cognitive impairment and mental illness than the general population, with grave functional consequences. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Thus, there is a clear need to design interventions that facilitate healthy cognitive, emotional, and social development in disadvantaged youth. In fact, cognitive training programs show promise in improving foundational cognitive skills among at-risk young children.…”

“…Given previous research on the cognitive and mental health impact of homelessness in children [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] and adults, [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] in regard to the first aim we expected the average cognitive functioning to be below the population mean and the incidence of mental health diagnoses in this transition-age sample to be higher than has been reported for nonhomeless peers. For the second aim, we expected that, consistent with previous research, [22][23][24][25][26] cognitive and psychological dysfunction would be associated with decrements in work functioning.…”

Leren van huisontruimingen

“…Meer publicaties zijn te vinden over de preventie van dakloosheid (Shinn, Baumohl & Hopper, 2001;Crane, Fu & Warnes, 2004;Crane et al, 2006;Backer & Howard, 2007;Burt, Pearson & Montgomer, 2007;Culhane, Metraux & Byrne, 2011). Maar zoals Culhane et al (2011, p. 296) aangeven: " […] there is much about homelessness prevention that still needs to be understood."…”