Researchers in Australia were concerned that the estimates of homeless people who also had mental health issues were much higher than the actual numbers, and went on a quest to get more accurate figures. The reason they were concerned was because resources for the homeless may be inadequate if there are more issues than mental health driving homelessness.
The study they conducted is interesting and important. Mental health issues are thought to impact about half of all homeless in America. The number in Australia was thought to be even higher. However, what the researchers found was that more people developed mental health issues after being homeless, rather than mental health causing homelessness.
The overall numbers pointed to about 30% of homeless experiencing mental health issues, with about 16% developing the problems after they were already on the streets. More impactful pathways to homelessness included financial difficulties and breakdown of the family. The researchers noted that since the majority of services offered to the homeless related to mental health the other issues were not being addressed.
The research certainly makes one think about how resources should be delivered to those with mental health issues and those who are homeless. One would expect to find more homeless in their situation due to financial issues during economic downturns, and the resources those people need would be vastly different from those who are chronically mentally ill. Additional issues that must be taken into consideration are chemical dependency issues along with support for veterans (it is thought that about 1/3 of homeless in the US are veterans).
There has never been an easy answer to how to fix the problems that relate to homelessness. Until people are impacted by it personally they often don’t give a second thought to how someone ended up where they are. It may not seem like a problem that needs to be dealt with until it becomes too big to ignore. A news report on 60 minutes back in December discussed the large amount of children who were homeless on the outskirts of Disneyworld as a result of the economic downturn in the area. These children are at high risk for all sorts of issues, including mental health problems. The concept that getting resources to people prior to mental health problems develop is important, as it re-focuses those in the field on to prevention rather than reaction