Homelessness is a global issue that has affected many families. Especially in the United States, due to the high number of immigrants in the country, homelessness is a crucial problem that needs intervenience. Homelessness has negative effects on public health. In this essay, the health effects brought about by homelessness are discussed. They include the spread of infectious diseases, malnutrition and food insecurity, emergency chronic problems, violence and body trauma, psychological issues and substance abuse, and general hygienic health problems.
The spread of infections such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and COVID-19 is common among people without homes. The cause of this health issue is the lack of proper preventive measures among this population and their crowded population (Schrooyen et al., 2021). Given that people experiencing homelessness are poor, they lack access to proper sanitation and HIV prevention supplies. In addressing this issue, the government and the United Nations are working to reduce this spread by providing cleaner camps and safe havens for people without housing, with necessary treatments and preventive supplies to minimize the spread. In addition, these parties should focus on reducing the homeless population and educating them on protecting themselves from such infections.
Malnutrition and food insecurity is another health issue facing people without homes in the United States. The large population makes it difficult to provide enough food donations to these families (Fitzpatrick & Willis, 2021). Children born to these families are at risk of nutrition deficiency diseases. This degrades their immunity, leaving them prone to other illnesses. To solve this issue, well-wishers have tried their best to provide food and supplies to these families. The work of the government and other humanitarian groups in providing for this need is inevitable. In reducing this problem greatly, people without homes should be given part-time jobs to at least work for themselves and buy their food to avoid over-reliance on scarce relief food.
Violence and physical harm among people without homes are also adverse. This might be caused by the competition for basic needs and the basic nature of humans to act out when under stress. Stealing food supplies from each other is common, which leads to physical harm (Heerde & Pallotta-Chiarolli, 2020). The cause of people without homes fleeing into the country is major because of civil wars in their countries, which might have left them with physical trauma. In addressing this issue, emergency personnel from different relief programs have been placed to cater to the hurt. However, to fully eradicate this issue, the government should work more on reducing the number of homeless people, advocating understanding amongst themselves to vouch for peace.
Moreover, people without housing may have psychological problems that may lead them to bad practices such as substance abuse, suicide, and bodily harm. This might have been influenced by the trauma they faced in their previous residences (Song et al., 2021). Substance abuse affects their bodies negatively and may also lead to violent traits posing a threat to others. The involved parties provide mental support to the affected and provide rehabilitation centers for the addicted individuals. Additionally, emotional support and love should be shown to these families to provide them with comfort.
Without proper hygienic conditions in their partial residences, people without homes are prone to hygienic diseases such as cholera, skin, and oral infections. Living on the streets supposes little to no hygiene. Poverty tends to go hand in hand with untidiness. This exposes people without homes to many disease-causing germs. The government aims to reduce the number of homeless people on the streets to their partial residences in camps and provide cleaning services on the streets (Guadgno, 2020). Proper hygiene practices should be taught to these individuals to help them survive independently.
In conclusion, the homeless face a lot of public health problems. However, humanitarian parties have made an effort to improve their public health. This effort is seen to increase hope that, in the future, the issue of homelessness will have been fought and minimized. People should join forces with these agencies to help our fellow humans in need.
References
Schrooyen, L., Delforge, M., Lebout, F., Vanbaelen, T., Lecompte, A., & Dauby, N. (2021). Homeless people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Brussels. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 27(1), 151-152. https://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(20)30478-X/abstract
Fitzpatrick, K. M., & Willis, D. E. (2021). Homeless and hungry: food insecurity in the land of plenty. Food Security, 13(1), 3-12. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-020-01115-x
Heerde, J. A., & Pallotta-Chiarolli, M. (2020). “I’d rather injure somebody else than get injured”: An introduction to the study of exposure to physical violence among young people experiencing homelessness. Journal of Youth Studies, 23(4), 406-429. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13676261.2019.1610558
Song, M. J., Yu, L., & Enright, R. D. (2021). Trauma and healing in the underserved populations of homelessness and corrections: Forgiveness Therapy as an added component to intervention. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 28(3), 694–714. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cpp.2531
Guadagno, L. (2020). Migrants and the COVID-19 pandemic: An initial analysis. https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/mrs-60.pdf
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