Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T11:57:28.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Characteristics of homeless mentally ill people who lose contact with caring agencies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Max Marshall ,
Julia Nehring ,
Catherine Taylor  and
Denis Gath
Max Marshall
Affiliation:
Wellcome Trust Health Services Research Training Fellow, Oxford University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 7JX, England
Julia Nehring
Affiliation:
Littlemore Hospital, Oxford, England
Catherine Taylor
Affiliation:
Oxford University Department of Psychiatry
Denis Gath
Affiliation:
Oxford University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Headington, Oxford 0X3 7JX, England
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective: To discover whether (as predicted in the literature) loss of contact with caring agencies is related to age, substance dependence, a history of law-breaking, or a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Method: A consecutive series of 71 homeless people with mental disorders was recruited over a period of 18 months. The subjects were new referrals to psychiatrists working in a primary health care clinic for the homeless. The subjects were then followed up for a further 18 months (maximum follow up time 36 months, minimum follow up time 18 months) to determine duration of contact with Oxford services for helping the homeless (survival time).

Results: Survival analyses indicated that early loss of contact with Oxford services for helping the homeless was strongly predicted by substance (mainly alcohol) dependence in the month before first attendance at the clinic (generalised Wilcoxon 15.8, p<0.001). Homeless people with mental disorders who are also alcohol dependent, were five times more likely to lose contact with caring agencies than homeless people with mental disorders who were not alcohol dependent (hazard ratio 5.05,95% confidence limits 14.9-3.0).

Conclusions: Amongst homeless people with mental disorder, there appears to be an association between substance (mainly alcohol) dependence and loss of contact with caring agencies. This may be because homeless people with a dual diagnosis of mental disorder and substance dependence, tend to be more mobile than those who are not substance dependent.

Keywords

HomelessnessMental disorderAlcohol dependence
Type
Original Papers
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 1994 , pp. 160 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Timms, P, Fry, A. Homelessness and mental illness. Health Trends 1989;21:70–1.Google ScholarPubMed
2.Hogg, LI, Marshall, M. Can we measure need in the homeless mentally ill using the MRC Needs for Care Assessment in hostels for the homeless? Psychol Med 1992;22: 1027–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Joseph, P, Bridgewater, J, Ramsden, S, El-Kabir, D. A psychiatric clinic for the single homeless in a primary care setting in Inner London. Psychiatr Bull 1990; 14: 270–1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Tomison, A, Cook, D. Rootlessness and mental disorder. Br J Clin Soc Psychiatr 1987;5:5–8.Google Scholar
5.Anon. Editorial: Homelessness. Lancet 1990; ii:778–9.Google Scholar
6.Priest, R. The homeless person and the psychiatric services: and Edinburgh study. Br J Psychiatry 1976;10:233–5.Google Scholar
7.Bughra, D, Bullock, R, Marshall, J, Timms, P. Working party report on behalf of the Executive Committee of the General Psychiatry Section of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1991.Google Scholar
8.Altman, A. Practical statistics for medical research. London: Chapman and Hall, 1991.Google Scholar
9.Edwards, G, Gross, M. Alcohol dependence: provisional description of a clinical syndrome. BMJ 1976; i:1058.CrossRefGoogle Scholar