Guest editorial: Interventions for homeless individuals with co-occurring mental health and addictive disorders

摘要

An estimated 3.5 million people in the United States meet criteria for being homeless (National Law Center on Homelessness Poverty, 2007), about 1.4 percent to 2 percent of the population (Greenberg Rosenheck, 2008). Of these, about 32 percent of men and 36 percent of women have been found to have co-occurring disorders (North, Eyrich, Pollio, Spitznagel, 2004). Of the 10 percent of the homeless population classified as chronically homeless (those with multiple homelessness episodes lasting 12 months or more), 85 percent have co-occurring disorders (Joseph Langrod, 2004). Persons who are homeless and have co-occurring disorders have been found to be most at risk for multiple problems including medical problems, legal problems, behavioral problems, histories of trauma, skill deficits, and inadequate or antisocial support systems (Drake, Osher, Wallach, 1991).