Page 273 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

240 n HOMeleSS HeAlTH

& White, 2010), acute and chronic health research tools: methodologies, instruments,
services (Gelberg et al., 2009), diminished and designs; and (3) the new subpopula-
H ability to resist high-risk drug and sex- tions studied: elderly (Joyce & limbos,
ual behaviors (Hudson et al., 2009; Stein, 2009), youth (Haldenby, Berman, & Forchuk,
Nyamathi, & Zane, 2009), and increased 2007; Stewart, reutter, & letourneau, 2007),
vulnerability to both injury through vio- runaways (Martinez, 2006), teen moms
lence (Busen & engebretson, 2008; Johnson, (Meadows-Oliver, 2006a, 2006b; Meadows-
rew, & Kouzekanani, 2006) and most impor- Oliver, Sadler, Swartz, & ryan-Krause, 2007),
tantly mortality. The life expectancy of the and those transitioning from homeless to
homeless is shorter than for their housed housed (Drury, 2008; Heliker & Scholler-
counterparts. In the Dying Without Dignity: Jaquish, 2006; Montgomery et al., 2008).
Homeless Deaths in Los Angeles County Although mental health and drug abuse
2000–2007 report, life expectancy was issues are still a research interest, studies
reported as 36% shorter on average and 49% now are directed toward understanding
shorter for latina females (Hawke, Davis, & the “bigger picture” by focusing on envi-
erlenbusch, 2007). A similar 5-year study in ronmental and other barriers to treatment
Scotland concluded that “homelessness is (Forchuk, Brown, Schofield, & Jensen, 2008)
an independent risk factor for deaths from and the use of preventive health services
specific causes” (Morrison, 2009). rather than targeting individual abuse/
previous research in this area is not rehab issues (Darbyshire, Muir-cochrane,
robust. The homeless are complex, vulner- Fereday, Jureidini, & Drummond, 2006). The
able, mobile, difficult populations to study studies now span the continuum from iden-
and resources are scarce. consequently, tifying objective and subjective factors that
many of the published studies have been facilitate individual participation in hepati-
poorly funded, descriptive in nature, and tis vaccination (Stein & Nyamathi, 2010) and
use small convenience samples in nonexper- latent tuberculosis treatment (Nyamathi,
imental designs. The NIH-funded studies christiani, Nahid, Gregerson, & leake,
focus on the mentally ill and substance abus- 2006; Nyamathi et al., 2008) to cost analyses
ers (Zerger, 2005). of various nurse managed care intervention
Nurses historically have been on the front- treatment programs (Greengold et al., 2009;
lines of caring, advocating, and conducting larimer et al., 2009).
research on the health of the homeless. Since An evolving new direction of research
2005, the panorama of nursing homeless health is toward seeking the perspectives of home-
research has expanded in both breadth and less individuals regarding concrete topics
depth. Homelessness is a worldwide phenom- related to their personal health and health
enon. recent nursing research reflects this fact status (Anthony & Barry, 2009; Daiski, 2007;
with publications from South Korea, Australia, Gelberg et al., 2008), access to and utiliza-
Nigeria, pakistan, Nepal, Japan, england, tion of care (DiMarco, 2007; Forchuk et al.,
Australia, South Africa, and canada. Although 2008), health care provider experiences
the majority of nursing research studies are (Hudson, Nyamathi, & Sweat, 2008), and
authored by U.S. researchers, multicultural experiences of caring for children while
and international studies provide insights into homeless (Meadows-Oliver, 2006a, 2009).
homeless health issues, which reveal both the Studies on more esoteric topics such as the
universal and the unique cultural aspects of personal meaning of becoming homeless
homelessness and health (lee, 2008). (Finfgeld-connett, 2010), discovering per-
The expanding depth of nursing sonal strengths living in an abuse shelter
research is shown in (1) the new directions (Hemphill, 2005), being uprooted and dis-
of inquiry; (2) the wider use of various located (Berman et al., 2009), and social