Honors College Thesis
 

Healthcare for the Houseless; How Lack of Health Equity Disproportionately Shortens the Life Expectancy of the Unhoused

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  • The national average life expectancy for houseless individuals in the United States is forty seven years, which is thirty years lower than the overall average. I argue that this disproportionately short life expectancy of the houseless is reflective of significant health inequities in the United States that disproportionately impact the houseless population, and demonstrates failures of the US healthcare system. In this paper, I provide backgrounds on several social and physiological factors associated with poor health outcomes and investigate how their compounding impact on the houseless community contributes to their uniquely short life expectancy. To then illustrate the converging manifestation of these medical risk factors on houseless lives, I include several retellings of individual stories from unhoused people who experience prolonged isolation from health care and lack of treatment for serious medical problems. After identifying several intersecting disparities that contribute to the short life expectancy of the houseless population, I summarize the services provided by three healthcare delivery programs that specialize in care for the houseless and demonstrate health equity as a main priority. The purpose of this thesis is to identify massive dysfunctions in our healthcare system that create health inequities for the houseless, elaborate on how these dysfunctions and inequities affect people’s lives, and explore what can be done to increase the life expectancy of people experiencing houselessness.
  • Key Words: Houseless, homeless, health equity, life expectancy, health disparity, healthcare, access
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