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Background: Numerous studies have highlighted the inequitable access to medical and psychiatric care that people experiencing homelessness (PEH) face, yet the surgical needs of this population are not well understood. We sought to assess evidence describing surgical care for PEH and to perform a thematic analysis of the results. Methods: Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science were searched using the terms 'surgery' AND 'homelessness.' Grey literature was also searched. We used a stepwise scoping review methodology, followed by thematic analysis using an inductive approach. Results: We included 104 articles in our review. Studies were included from 5 continents; 63% originated in the United States. All surgical specialties were represented with varying surgical conditions and procedures for each. Orthopedic surgery (21%) was the most frequently reported specialty. Themes identified included characteristics of PEH receiving surgical care, homeless-to-housed participants, interaction with the health care system, educational initiatives, barriers and challenges, and interventions and future strategies. Conclusion: We identified significant variation and gaps, representing opportunities for further research and interventions. Further addressing the barriers and challenges that PEH face when accessing surgical care can better address the needs of this population. Contexte : Si de nombreuses études ont souligné l'accès inéquitable aux soins médicaux et psychiatriques pour les personnes en situation d'itinérance (PSI), les besoins chirurgicaux de cette population ne sont pas bien compris. Nous avons cherché à évaluer les données décrivant les soins chirurgicaux pour les PSI afin de faire une analyse thématique des résultats. Méthodes : Les bases de données Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, et Web of Science ont été interrogées avec les termes << surgery >> [chirurgie] ET << homelessness >> [itinérance]. La littérature grise a aussi été interrogée. Nous avons utilisé une méthode de synthèse exploratoire par étapes, suivie d'une analyse thématique par approche inductive. Résultats : Nous avons inclus 104 articles dans notre revue. Les études sélectionnées provenaient de 5 continents; 63% venaient des États-Unis. Toutes les spécialités chirurgicales étaient représentées, avec diverses conditions et interventions chirurgicales pour chacune. La chirurgie orthopédique (21%) était la spécialité la plus souvent rapportée. Les thèmes relevés comprenaient les caractéristiques des PSI recevant des soins chirurgicaux, les personnes participantes passées de l'itinérance au logement, l'interaction avec le système de santé, les initiatives d'éducation, les obstacles et défis, et les interventions et stratégies futures. Conclusion : Nous avons décelé une variation et des lacunes considérables, qui représentent des occasions de recherche et d'interventions. Il faudra s'attaquer davantage aux obstacles et aux défis rencontrés par les PSI dans l'accès aux soins chirurgicaux pour mieux répondre aux besoins de cette population., Homelessness is a major social and health-related concern globally. In Canada alone, there are 25000-35000 people experiencing homelessness (PEH) on any single night. (1) The circumstances surrounding an individual's homelessness [...]

In recent decades, the call to 'clean up the streets' (1) has rarely escaped the political docket. Politicians from both sides of the aisle and academics alike have argued for [...]

This study uses national longitudinal data from the Journeys Home survey to examine how violence and housing insecurity in one period affect disadvantaged Australians' chances of experiencing violence and housing insecurity in subsequent periods. Men experience much higher rates of violence and housing insecurity than do women. Our analyses show that housing insecurity in one period increases men's and women's subsequent risks of housing insecurity and that violence in one period increases their subsequent risks of violence. However, the multivariate results provide no evidence of one-period crossover effects for women and only limited effects for men. (JEL J1, R2), I. INTRODUCTION Being a victim of physical violence and losing one's accommodation are each deleterious events. Physical violence is painful and in extreme instances can inflict disabling injuries and emotional [...]

A recent issue of Psychiatric Times featured an opinion piece by D.J. Jaffe who argued that there is little empirical support for the effectiveness of paid peer-support staff--persons in recovery [...]

As the nation moves into the 2016 presidential election cycle grappling with multiple military engagements, a large and growing veterans population and problems in the Veterans Administration, a group of [...]

This paper presents the results of a research project to understand how a major technology adoption project is taken up in the social setting of Calgary's three major homeless shelters. An understanding of how technology is used 'on the ground' and how it relates to the project's goals is the key contribution of this research. The results of interviews with clients at the homeless shelters and shelter staff provide the empirical data for an analysis of the major issues concerning the actual and intended use of this Smart Communities project. The research project is influenced by institutional ethnography, which looks at the role of texts in coordinating social relations. This article suggests that information technology could be seen as a text 'superpower' in coordinating social relations among socially 'at risk' people in particular. It concludes that more transparent dialogue is required oil how actions are concerted by information technology. Keywords: sociology of technology: smart communities, information technology: homelessness; ethnography 10.1177/0162243908329568

[This article argues that homelessness is a violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, including the right to liberty and security of the person, the right to freedom from discrimination, [...]

IN RECENT YEARS, A PATTERN HAS EMERGED, A SEEMINGLY SELF-EVIDENT TREND toward restricting, regulating, and removing from public view persons commonly referred to categorically as 'the homeless.' I first encountered [...]

On Monday, July 14, 1828, Dora Wordsworth, her father William Wordsworth, and their friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge, traveling companions for several weeks, came upon a Jewish family while walking along [...]

As a psychiatry resident, I worked at a community service agency in Los Angeles, treating chronically homeless patients with serious mental illness and substance use disorders (SUD) as they transitioned [...]

Poor people have long been stigmatized and blamed for their situation. According to theory about stigma and about inequality-legitimating ideologies, homeless people should be stigmatized even more severely than the 'generic poor.' Recent research suggests that the opposite may be true, but the data used in comparing attitudes toward homeless and other poor people have not been strictly comparable. Thus the conclusions that can be drawn are limited. Using a vignette experiment designed to directly compare attitudes toward a homeless and a domiciled poor man and to compare the effects of being labeled homeless with those of being labeled mentally ill, we find that (1) the homeless man is blamed no less than the domiciled man and generally is stigmatized more severely; (2) the strength of the stigma attached to the 'homelessness' label equals that for mental hospitalization; and (3) the stigmas of homelessness and mental hospitalization are independent of one another. Thus, in addition to the hardships of the homeless condition itself, homeless people suffer stigmatization by their fellow citizens. The results also suggest that the robust tendency to blame the disadvantaged for their predicament holds true for modern homelessness as well.

Brendan O'Flaherty's 'Making Room' explains the rise of homelessness using numerical data without trivializing the human aspects of the problem. Although the book is less elegantly written than Christopher Jenks's 'The Homeless,' O'Flaherty's conversational prose lends fluidity to his theoretical perspectives which, in less able hands, could turn tedious. This reading is a must for social scientists involved in poverty research, housing and urban policy.

Christopher Jencks' book 'The Homeless' analyzes the possible reasons for the growing number of homeless people and suggests possible measures. Homelessness may be due to the inability of the mental health system to care for mental patients outside institutions, the proliferation of crack cocaine, the reduction of job opportunities and the massive replacement of low-cost hotels and lodges by expensive hotels. Jencks' suggestions include the provision of jobs for single mothers and the establishment of services for the those who cannot work., Over the last decade and a half, substantive political, economic, and social transformations have produced a rapid growth in the number of homeless people within the United States. In The [...]

A student of French culture considers the idea that the human condition is basically homeless. From this theory it follows that nothing comes to humans by birthright or gratis. Those who cross cultural boundaries increase the condition of homelessness, and they do not believe that home possession equals safety and comfort. All tradition in America is invented.

A study of the cause and effect of poverty and homelessness in America indicates that, compared to the traditionally homeless, recent homeless comprise visible, younger people, more women with children and more ethnic minorities. The policies addressing the problems related with homelessness may be grouped into health, economic, housing, social programs and religious approaches. Various programs aimed at providing short-term rehabilitation along with strengthening personal responsibility and reforming the welfare system are essential.

Homelessness between men and women, which markedly differ in fundamental ways, does not provide a clear information on gender differences. The selection process for classifying men and women into homelessness should be similar in attributes and experiences. The differences in the causes of physical symptoms do not account for higher female morbidity rates. Lastly, there is no sufficient evidence to conclude health status as a function of observed sex differences.

Sociologists have long observed the tendency of the public to support individualistic explanations for poverty, and critiqued the role of academics in the victim blaming process. At the current time, as economic inequality increases and homelessness becomes a problem of growing public concern, the potential for sociology to facilitate victim blaming is of interest and concern. Some of the motivations and mechanisms of victim blaming that emerge in academic publications are examined, and their impact on mass media publications and in the classroom discussed.