Causes of homelessness prevalence: Relationship between homelessness and disability

Akihiro Nishio; Ryo Horita; Tadahiro Sado; Seiko Mizutani; Takahiro Watanabe; Ryosuke Uehara; Mayumi Yamamoto

doi:10.1111/pcn.12469

Causes of homelessness prevalence: Relationship between homelessness and disability

Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2017 Mar;71(3):180-188. doi: 10.1111/pcn.12469. Epub 2016 Dec 18.

Authors

Akihiro Nishio^{1

2}, Ryo Horita¹, Tadahiro Sado^{1

3}, Seiko Mizutani⁴, Takahiro Watanabe⁵, Ryosuke Uehara⁶, Mayumi Yamamoto^{1

7}

Affiliations

¹ Health Administration Center, Gifu, Japan.
² Division of Neuroscience, Department of Psychopathology, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan.
³ Faculty of Health Promotional Sciences, Tokoha University, Hamamatsu, Japan.
⁴ Faculty of Nursing, Nihon Fukushi University, Tokai, Japan.
⁵ Midori Hospital, Gifu, Japan.
⁶ Yoshida Hospital, Nara, Japan.
⁷ United Graduate School of Drug Discovery and Medical Information Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan.

PMID: 27778418
DOI: 10.1111/pcn.12469

Abstract

Aim: Many studies have reported that the prevalence of mental illness and cognitive disability is higher among homeless individuals compared to the general population, and the rates of mental illness among the homeless population have recently increased. This study: (i) compares causes of homelessness or barriers to escaping homelessness for people with/without mental illness/cognitive disability; (ii) reveals problems with the Japanese homeless policy; and (iii) proposes an effective and necessary support system.

Methods: The participants were 114 homeless individuals. A psychiatric diagnostic interview and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, version III were used to measure participants' mental health and cognitive abilities. A questionnaire was administered comprising 17 items related to the causes of their homelessness and barriers to escaping from it. Participants were divided into four groups - with/without mental illness or cognitive disability - and Fisher's exact test was used to compare the questionnaire results.

Results: Individuals with cognitive disabilities considered bad relationships with their family members to be the cause of their homelessness. Conversely, normal individuals considered their homelessness to be the result of debt more so than did individuals with mental problems. Individuals with mental illness had more difficulties escaping homelessness than did either normal individuals or individuals with cognitive disability. This tendency was observed most strongly among individuals with both mental illness and cognitive disability.

Conclusion: Most homeless individuals considered economic problems to be the cause of their homelessness; however, difficulties with human relationships were also important factors and were more difficult for participants to acknowledge. Furthermore, these difficulties were exacerbated among those individuals with mental problems.

Keywords: cognition; homeless persons; mental disorders; prevalence; surveys and questionnaires.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Female
Humans
Ill-Housed Persons / psychology*
Ill-Housed Persons / statistics & numerical data*
Intellectual Disability / epidemiology*
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Mental Disorders / epidemiology*
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Social Problems*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult