Introduction
To date, due to the crisis that arose during the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of homeless people has increased significantly. However, many of them do not have access to qualified medical care. Thousands of people who could have been helped die on the streets every day due to lack of access to qualified medical care. The number of deaths could be reduced by introducing some changes to address the issue. For example, it would be beneficial to organize specialized departments for the homeless in each hospital. It would also be helpful to make possible free access to ambulance, whose doctors will be able to provide emergency assistance even if the patient does not have documents.
Barriers
The first barrier affecting the provision of medical care to the homeless is social. Since the state does not monitor the admission of patients without documents, doctors can refuse to provide them with medical care without any consequences. There is also a serious economic barrier associated with the high cost of treatment. For a homeless citizen who does not have documents, it becomes impossible to obtain medical insurance. In its absence, even flu treatment becomes too expensive for the patient (Paudyal et al., 2019). Thus, staying in a medical institution in case of need for rehabilitation or carrying out specific diagnostic or therapeutic procedures become inaccessible to the homeless.
According to statistics, the age of homeless patients mostly tends to 50 and above (Varley et al., 2020). This indicates that the issue of medical care is becoming particularly relevant for them. With age, there is a special need for medicines and medical supervision, but homeless people cannot get them. Most of the homeless dwell in urban locations, especially in megalopolises. Living in the city is associated with certain health risks, such as lung diseases due to polluted air or the frequency of getting into car accidents. Consequently, they require a special amount of medical care which cannot be provided in the current conditions. Psychographic factors also contribute to the emergence of various diseases in homeless people that require serious treatment. Their bad eating habits and propensity to drink alcohol, as well as the status of unemployed, make these socio-economic factors such significant problems.
Supports
The first possible socio-economic support for changes may be the opening of a department in each hospital to work with the homeless. It is necessary to open separate reception rooms and wards for the homeless (Csikar et al., 2019). The geographical factor (urban location) means that hospitals are large enough to allocate one of the departments for the needs of the homeless. It can be a special office with a laboratory, where an ENT, a dermatologist, a surgeon and other narrow specialists work. Given the demographic (the age of the homeless) and the psychographic factor (the status of the unemployed), it is difficult for homeless to get to the hospital. The second possible socio-economic support for changes may be the possibility of free ambulance departure and medical care fixed at the legislative level. Then homeless people in need of urgent treatment will not have to get to the hospital themselves.
Conclusion
The problem of providing health services to the homeless is quite serious today. To save many lives, it is necessary to assist in the implementation of the necessary changes. It is necessary to make changes at the legislative level, allowing to provide emergency care to citizens without documents, as well as to allocate a specialized department for the homeless in hospitals.
References
Csikar, J., Vinall-Collier, K., Richemond, J. M., Talbot, J., Serban, S. T., & Douglas, G. V. (2019). Identifying the barriers and facilitators for homeless people to achieve good oral health. Community Dental Health, 36(3), 1-6.
Paudyal, V., Smith, K. G., MacLure, K., Forbes-McKay, K., Radley, A., & Stewart, D. (2019). Perceived roles and barriers in caring for the people who are homeless: A survey of UK community pharmacists. International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, 41(1), 215-227.
Varley, A. L., Montgomery, A. E., Steward, J., Stringfellow, E., Austin, E. L., Gordon, A. J., … Kertesz, S. G. (2020). Exploring quality of primary care for patients who experience homelessness and the clinicians who serve them: What are their aspirations? Qualitative Health Research, 30(6), 190-196.