Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR&D Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

No wrong door: Can clinical care facilitate veteran engagement in housing services?

Johnson EE, Borgia M, Rose J, O'Toole TP. No wrong door: Can clinical care facilitate veteran engagement in housing services? Psychological Services. 2017 May 1; 14(2):167-173.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

It is well established that providing stable housing to homeless persons improves health outcomes. It is less clear whether engagement in clinical care facilitates housing outcomes. We present a post hoc analysis of a prospective, community-based randomized controlled trial of homeless veterans not actively receiving or assigned to a primary care. Study subjects were interviewed at baseline, 1 month and 6 months and survey results were supplemented/verified by review of all notes in their VA electronic medical record for 6 months postenrollment. A total of 142 subjects with complete data were included in this analysis: 82 (57.7%) were in a stable sheltering/housing arrangement (transitional housing, stably doubled-up, independent housing) at baseline and stayed stable; 36 (25.4%) started in an unstable sheltering arrangement (unsheltered, emergency sheltered, unstable doubled-up arrangement) and moved into stable sheltering/housing while 24 (17.0%) individuals either started in and stayed unstably sheltered or went from a stable to an unstable arrangement. Of 36 individuals who transitioned from unstable to stable sheltering/housing, 25 (69.4%) accessed primary care within 1 month compared with 37.5% of the persistently unstable sheltering group and 57.3% of the stably sheltered/housed group (p = .05). Of those with care within 1 month, their average time from unstable to stable housing was 84.8 days compared with 165.9 days for those who do not access care (p = .02). Of those receiving primary care within 1 month of enrollment, 88.9% were in stable sheltering at 6 months. These findings suggest an important role for clinical engagement in helping achieve housing stability for homeless veterans. (PsycINFO Database Record





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.