Homelessness and Mental Health

As homelessness becomes an increasingly visible problem, the health care of homeless people is beginning to appear on the agenda of politicians, health care workers, and policy makers. In contrast with the popular stereotype of elderly alcoholic males or bag ladies which the word homeless tends to trigger, homelessness affects families as well as young single people. The health needs of these various groups are not homogeneous. This book brings together the experience of mental health care teams around the world in addressing the problems of mental illness in the homeless. The difficulties in assessment and service delivery are discussed at length with an emphasis on application of existing knowledge in health care. In addressing social policy implications as well as clinical management, models, and definitions of homelessness in different cultures, this volume will offer a practical support for all those working with the homeless on a day-to-day basis.

List of contributors; Preface; Part I. Introduction and Special Groups: 1. Introduction Dinesh Bhugra; 2. Homelessness and mental illness: a brief history Philip Timms; 3. Models of homelessness Alan McNaught and Dinesh Bhugra; 4. Young homeless and homeless families: a review Dinesh Bhugra; 5. Homeless women E. Jane Marshall; 6. Homelessness and criminality Philip Joseph; Part II. Services: 7. Services for the mentally ill homeless E. Jane Marshall and Dinesh Bhugra: 8. Clinical work with homeless people in the USA William R. Breakey; 9. The severely mentally ill in hostels for the homeless Max Marshall; 10. Old and homeless in London and New York City: a cross-national comparison Carl I. Cohen and Maureen Crane; 11. Primary health care of the single homeless David El-Kabir and Simon Ramsden; Part III. International Perspective: 12. European perspectives Max Marshall, Preben Brandt, Povl Munk-Jørgensen, Wulf Rössler, Hans Joachim Salize and Joseph Fernandez; 13. Lessons from America: semantics and services for mentally ill homeless individuals Leona L. Bachrach; 14. Homelessness and mental health: lessons from Australia Helen Herrman and Cecily Neil; Part IV. Policy and Evaluation: 15. Implications of social policy David Kingdon; 16. Evaluating services for homeless people with mental disorders: theoretical and practical issues Max Marshall; 17. Future directions for homeless mentally ill Dinesh Bhugra; Index.

Homelessness is an increasing global problem which poses particular challenges with respect to appropriate mental health care, assessment, and service delivery. Bringing together international experience of mental health care teams, this book provides a valuable and practical resource for all those working with the homeless on a day-to-day basis.