Assessing Health Care Needs Among Street Homeless and Transitionally Housed Adults

This study examined the health services received and needed among homeless persons in Hillsborough County, FL (N = 823). Lifetime and current need and receipt of health services were assessed with a cross-sectional survey. Participants reported extensive lifetime and current needs for physical and behavioral health care services. Nearly a third of participants reported current unaddressed health problem(s); an inability to obtain needed health care; and feelings of unaddressed mental health issue(s) as well as substance abuse problem(s) in the past year. Future research on homelessness and health should focus on identifying different pathways to health and mental health services for this vulnerable population and the outcomes of these interventions.