Chronic Health Care Issues in the Homeless Mentally Ill

In December 2005 the New York City Departments of Health and Mental Hygiene and Homeless Services issued a report on the Health of Homeless Adults in New York City. They studied the chronic health issues of over 100,000 adults who used the Department of Homeless Services shelter system for at least one night for the 3 years covering 2001-2003. To date, this has been the largest study of homeless health in an urban setting and there were numerous recommendations to improve homeless health care.

BRC is one of the largest providers of services to homeless adults in NYC. We will discuss the most common health care issues we encounter among our clients at BRC as well as the programmatic changes we have made to address these issues. The interaction between medical and psychiatric services is critical in meeting the health care needs of our clients and we will review the availability of outside resources as well.

Bryan McGreal, MD is the BRC Agency Medical Director. He is board certified in adult psychiatry and addiction medicine and has extensive experience in HIV services.

Robyn Margulies Gundy, MPA is the BRC Director of Research and Evaluation. Her recent research projects include evaluations of New York City's welfare-to-work program and discharge planning services for homeless clients.

PDF of Powerpoint Presentation: Chronic Health Care Issues in the Homeless Mentally Ill