Health care utilization among homeless people
by Stephen Hwang /Centre for Research on Inner City Health
Homeless people suffer from high rates of illness. Despite their higher need for health care, little is known about their health care use, the barriers to obtaining care, or the effectiveness of specific models of primary care for homeless people. About 32-54% of homeless people report that they have received care in an emergency department in the last year, which is more than three times the rate of use in the general population. It is plausible that if homeless patients were provided with better access to primary care services, they would be less likely to seek care in emergency departments, however, this hypothesis remains unproven.  This question has important implications for the organization and philosophy of health care delivery for the homeless.    
Read the Report >

REPORTS
Telling Our Stories:Disability Should Not Equal Poverty
by the Ontario Disability Support Program
236 ODSP recipients from all across Ontario share stories of their struggles to survive on ODSP. They express overlapping values and needs: independence, choice, health and dignity. Their stories are evidence of the urgent need to improve supports for Ontarian’s with disabilities.

Women and Poverty in Hamilton
Mayo, Sara / Social Planning & Research Council of Hamilton
Women remain disproportionately affected by poverty in our community. In this report, we show more detail and analysis to better understand the many realities of women across Hamilton living on incomes below the poverty line.

Injury Hospitalizations and
Socio-Economic Status
by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)
This analysis illustrated that hospitalizations for injuries—unintentional and intentional—present a consistent association with socio-economic status. Simply put, the lower the residential neighbourhood affluence, the higher the rate of hospitalizations for injuries.

JOURNAL ARTICLES
Drug-related risks among street youth in two neighborhoods in a Canadian setting
by Werb, Dan; Kerr, Thomas; Fast, Danya; et al.
This report compares drug-related behaviors, including initiation of drug use, among street youth residing in two adjacent neighborhoods in Vancouver.
Journal of Health & Place

Home Is Where You Draw Strength and Rest: The Meanings of Home for Houseless Young People
by Kidd, Sean; Evans, Josh
This qualitative study examined the meanings ascribed to the construct “home” by 208 youths defined by mainstream society as “homeless”.
Journal of Youth & Society

The just city for whom? Re-conceiving active citizenship for lone mothers in Canada
by Gurstein, Penny; Vilches, Silvia
This article argues that inequities in resource distribution encountered by lone mothers on income assistance threaten not only individual sustenance and survival, but also the foundational fabric of our society.
Journal of Gender, Place & Culture

Issue 7 / July 28, 2010

For the past three years, photographer Andrea Star Reese has been documenting long term unsheltered men and women living in makeshift housing in New York City.
View her first project, The Urban Cave

Research Matters Blog
Should we give money to panhandlers?
Stephen Gaetz discusses the debate in Alberta: Should people give money to panhandlers? Read his post to learn what the research says about panhandling.

100,000 Homes Campaign
The 100,000 Homes Campaign brings together change agents from across the United States to find homes for 100,000 of the most vulnerable and long-term homeless individuals and families by July 2013. It is designed to fundamentally alter our response to chronic homelessness by giving communities concrete tools and connecting the change agents with one another so no one has to innovate alone. Learn more...

Events
August Calendar

The Homeless Hub got
a makeover!
Take a look at our new homepage:www.homelesshub.ca