December 28, 2012

Health and Homelessness

By tjmcfee

This is a story about a doctor who is doing a lot for the homeless in Boston (the story is in an interesting paper too… Street Roots on Word Press):

http://news.streetroots.org/2010/03/23/health-and-homelessness-front-lines-wdr-jim-oconnell

A study in Britain states that homelessness shortens a persons lifespan by 30 years:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/behindtheheadlines/news/2011-12-21-homeless-people-die-30-years-yonger-than-average/

Of course, this statistic depends greatly on the lifestyle of the homeless person, access to medical care and other resources. One study that I am looking for actually compares homelessness to cancer and states that being homeless shortens the lifespan the same way cancer does. So, I can surmise that individuals and agencies that look the other way and do not assist the homeless when they are trying to leave the streets are like doctors who ignore signs of cancer in a patient. The outcome is the same.

Hunger, homeless on the rise in U.S. cities (capitolhillblue.com)

About tjmcfee

Freelance writer. Activist on homeless issues. 48 years old. I write about subjects that need to be examined closely and thoughtfully. The idea for Brain Sections came from reading a book about abandoned asylums. I wanted to set a suspense story in that setting. The inclusion of crazed scientists turning homeless people into zombies is what makes the story unique. View all posts by tjmcfee

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2012 at 3:33 pm and tagged with Awareness, experiences on the streets, homeless, homeless blogs, homelessness, Poverty, Public Health and posted in Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.