The shelter is one of the basic wants of man. Sadly, several people live without shelter. The state of homelessness is caused by factors such as the effects of war, poverty and the occurrence of natural phenomena such as earthquakes and landslides. In order to know exactly what is meant by being homeless, it is necessary to establish what should be counted as a home. We shall define home as a place of residence or refuge (Davis, 2004). This definition draws the slight distinction between a shelter and a home. It can be observed that one can have shelter without a home but not a home without shelter. A homeless person is bound to face other challenges that come with lacking a place to call his or her home. Among the many problems faced by these people is the problem of lack of proper healthcare. This problem is caused by either inability to afford the costs of proper medication or as a result of the congestion within the concentration camps of the homeless.
Homelessness is a major cause of serious health problems. Most of the health problems are associated with poverty. The homeless population is devastated by diseases such as AIDS, malnutrition, tuberculosis, several dental problems among others. These diseases have claimed the lives of thousands of homeless people across the world (Glasser, 1994). They normally die after a short period due to the poor conditions that they are obliged to live in. In some cases, a homeless person can be suffering from a series of ailments and to make matters worse, he or she may be unaware of his or her pathetic condition.
There are other health problems faced by the homeless population that exists quietly especially along the streets. Some of them are mental illnesses, diabetes, alcoholism, physical disabilities and hypertension (Kusmer, 2002). These deadly diseases are prone to the homeless population because they are easily exposed to frostbite, parasites, infections and violence. These are some of the ways through which they contract the above diseases.
Even though they are desperately in need of good medication, the homeless population does not have any sort of health insurance or worse still, cannot afford to pay for medical care. This leaves these miserable people with no option other than to sit and let come what may. To make matters worse, most of them stay far away from the medical facilities they are in need of (Ogilvie, 2004). The homeless population focuses mainly on their immediate needs such as food and safety and tends to ignore minor symptoms of diseases until they become urgent medical emergencies.
One of the ways in which the homeless population can be helped to achieve better health can be through the establishment of clinics that are specifically designed to get over the access problems faced by the homeless population (Ward, 1989). The clinics can provide comprehensive care which helps to reduce the effects of homelessness. Medical vans can then visit the clinics or the encampments, underpasses and parks to give free medicinal drugs to the homeless population.
Another way of providing better health services to the homeless can be through the formation of projects of healthcare for them. These can be initiatives set up by the community to address the healthcare problems of their locality (Wallace & Wolf, 1999). The community can be well organized in that each project can secure providers of different services such as substance abuse, mental services and hospital services. These projects if well managed can go a long way in reversing the healthcare problems that are faced by the homeless population.
In conclusion, the homeless population faces a number of healthcare problems that affect their health and even cause death. It is upon the community and the government as a whole to find an appropriate way of helping the homeless population out of their pitiful situation.
Reference list
Davis, S. (2004). Design for the homeless: Architecture that works. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Glasser, I. (1994). Homelessness in a global perspective. New York: Maxwell.
Kusmer, K.L. (2002). Down & out, on the road: The homeless in American History. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ogilvie, R. S. (2004). Voluntarism, community life, and the American ethic. Bloomington: University press.
Wallace, R. A., & Wolf, A. (1999). Contemporary sociological theory. New Jersey: Prentice-hall.
Ward, J. (1989). Organizing for the Homeless. Ottawa: Canadian Council on Social Development.