The article “Chronic Homelessness is at an all-time high. Here is Why it Continues to Climb” addresses the social determinants of health, that is, the social and economic conditions determining the health status of people (Grabenstein, 2019). Homelessness also constitutes a deprivation of health, as it can develop adverse health outcomes such as mental illness and substance abuse. In the end, such problems lead to more problems and drugs at all. Many studies have been undertaken into how the social determinants of health relate to housing insecurity and what general characteristics can be ascribed to Homelessness as an ‘Issue’ (Rolfe et al., 2020).
Housing instability includes difficulty affording the rent, overcrowding in dirty conditions, excessive furniture, going from one place to another, staying with relatives, or possibly paying most of what you earn for housing alone. Homelessness and housing instability occur due to many reasons and have many consequences. The reasons that people become homeless are many, and the problems that arise from it are also diverse. These include frozen financial income, the lack of jobs, the lack of cheap housing, no healthcare, poverty, drug abuse, racial discrimination, domestic violence, family conflict, and systemic failures. In addition, being in the legal system, sudden serious illnesses, ill health, divorce, death of a companion, and disabilities may lead to homelessness. People without suitable housing often face unexpected harm from elements like broken pipes and unsafe floors, and they cannot resolve problems- for example, food or health care (Chhabra et al., 2019).
The article also discussed the social determinants of well-being or the economic and social conditions that affect health (Grabenstein, 2019). Homelessness is a social determinant of health, which can lead to poor health outcomes; this includes mental illness and substance abuse, which in turn causes Homelessness to continue (Clifford et al., 2019). A theory on Homelessness is “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory of human motivation that explains how people’s needs are prioritized and what they need in order to achieve self-actualization” (Rodulfo, 2018). According to Maslow, the basic needs of life, such as food and water, are an absolute necessity before anything else can be considered (Rodulfo, 2018). Likewise, people can only worry about love, esteem, and their like after they have secured their ‘base’ needs-load. However, Homelessness can stop people from getting their basic physiological and safety needs, which leads to a problem in fulfilling higher-level needs. It creates a vicious cycle of poverty and homelessness, which is hard to break. In essence, the study confers about the interactions and relationships among the social context, culture, quality, and health. That is what it is meant by the social and cultural context of health behaviour. Homelessness is a social and environmental factor that can influence health behaviour.
The article addresses at length how Homelessness can lead to deprived health outcomes, including mental sickness and substance violence, which can, in turn, lead to more Homelessness (Grabenstein, 2019). While the article contains no verbatim quotes, it cites sources in footnotes after making statements. For instance, the article argues that first-time Homelessness is extraordinarily high. These accords with data from the “U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)”. The article abruptly cuts to the point. According to the ecological model and social determinants of health, that is likely to exacerbate the spectrum of this life-threatening issue. The article identifies the upstream measures in place for prevention. It, therefore, points out a need for health systems and policies that also affect social determinants and stresses private investment as part of an overall host of options to address Homelessness.
References
Chhabra, M., Sorrentino, A. E., Cusack, M., Dichter, M. E., Montgomery, A. E., & True, G. (2019). Screening for housing instability: providers’ reflections on addressing a social determinant of health. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 34, 1213-1219.
Clifford, B., Wilson, A., & Harris, P. (2019). Homelessness, health and the policy process: A literature review. Health Policy, 123(11), 1125-1132.
Grabenstein, H., (2019, December 23). Chronic homelessness is at an all-time high. Here’s why it continues to climb. PBS NewsHour. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/chronic-homelessness-is-at-an-all-time-high-heres-why-it-continues-to-climb
Rodulfo, J. (2018). Why Maslow: How to use his theory to stay in power forever. Juan Rodulfo.
Rolfe, S., Garnham, L., Godwin, J., Anderson, I., Seaman, P., & Donaldson, C. (2020). Housing as a social determinant of health and wellbeing: Developing an empirically informed realist theoretical framework. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-19.
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