Homelessness amongst psychiatric Inpatients: a cross-sectional study in the mid-west of Ireland

Abstract

Background: This cross-sectional study sought to establish the prevalence of homelessness amongst inpatients in two psychiatric units in Ireland, and explore the perceived relationship between psychiatric illness and homelessness.Methods: The study employed a semistructured interview format utilising a specifically designed questionnaire which received ethical approval from the Limerick University Hospitals Group ethics committee. Results: Fifty psychiatric inpatients were interviewed. Fifteen were either "currently" homeless (n=8) or had experienced "past" homelessness (n=7). Those who had experienced homelessness were more likely to have a psychotic illness. A majority of those who had experienced homelessness believed that psychiatric illness contributed to their homelessness. involuntary admission rates were more than double for patients in the homeless group. A number of participants also reported that a lack of accommodation was preventing their discharge. Conclusion: Homelessness affects a significant number of psychiatric patients and can be both a contributory factor to, and consequence of, mental illness. With homelessness at unprecedented levels, there is a need for the development of tailored programmes aimed at supporting these vulnerable groups.

Homelessness among psychiatric inpatients in North Rhine-Westphalia: a retrospective routine data analysis

“…The rates of homelessness among psychiatric patients in international studies differ considerably. In this context, the different methodological approaches have to be considered: there have been European [ 4 , 24 , 28 , 30 – 32 , 40 , 43 , 45 ] and north American studies [ 13 , 25 , 41 ] vs. analysis from low-income Afro-Asian countries [ 17 , 33 , 37 , 44 ], evaluation of a complete cohort [ 4 , 24 , 30 , 32 , 43 , 45 ] vs. a defined subgroup with distinct patient characteristics [ 13 , 17 , 25 , 28 , 31 , 33 , 37 , 40 , 41 , 44 ], the inclusion of current homelessness vs. probability and history thereof [ 13 , 30 ], a definition of literally homeless vs. no private home [ 40 , 45 ]. A rate of 2,4% homelessness as observed in the present study, is a relatively low prevalence, but other European studies with a similar design (inclusion of all consecutive psychiatric admissions) also found single digit prevalences of 0.5-1.58% in Denmark (“one-year cumulative probability of first homelessness after discharge”, [ 30 ], 1.6% in Switzerland [ 24 ], and 3.8% in the UK (focus on ethnical differences in treatment, [ 4 ].…”

Clinical characteristics of homeless patients hospitalised with alcohol-related mental disorders

“…Although, several studies reported that substance use disorders are the most common mental disorders among homeless people [4,5,7,8,32], the prevalence of homeless people diagnosed with alcohol-related mental disorders has not yet been evaluated in detail. Our novel ndings showed that 6% of appearances and about 10% of patients admitted with ADS, AWS or DT are homeless.…”

“…Prevalence of homelessness is globally relatively high in urban areas [2]. During the past few decades, several studies have revealed that severe somatic and mental disorders show a high prevalence among homeless people [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Previously, it has been emphasized that psychiatric disorders appeared three times more among homeless people compared to the general population [11].…”

“…However, it has also been revealed that the distribution of mental disorders shows a difference among homeless and domiciled adults. For instance, psychotic and substance use disorders have a higher prevalence among homeless people [4,7,9,[11][12][13]. Notably, it has also been reported that alcohol-related problems are up to 8 times more prevalent among homeless people than among domiciled adults [10,12,14].…”