Paper
Saturday, July 24, 2004
A Typology of Homeless Mentally Ill People to Help Nursing Interventions in Community Settings
Jean-Pierre Bonin, MN, PhD1, Louise Fournier, PhD2, and Regis Blais, PhD2. (1) Faculty of Nursing, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada, (2) Department of Public Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| Learning Objective #1: Describe a new typology of homeless mentally ill people |
| Learning Objective #2: Understand how a typology can apply in community nursing interventions |
Objective: We know very little about the homeless mentally ill, save that they constitute a heterogeneous population, and that it is hard for them to receive services adapted to their situation. The objective of this presentation is to describe a typology of homeless mentally ill persons and the nursing interventions that can be made in regard of this typology. Population, Sample, Setting, Years: This study used data from a health survey of the homeless carried-out by Fournier (2001), in the central Montreal urban area and the Quebec urban community (N=757). Subjects included in the study have suffered from depression, bipolar disorders or psychosis during their lifetime. Concept or Variables Studied Together or Intervention and Outcome Variable(s): This research used the Network-Episode Model (NEM; Pescosolido, 1991) to identify the variables most likely to influence mental health services utilization and elaborate a typology of mental health services users within the homeless mentally ill population. Methods: A logistic regression was made in order to identify the variables related with service utilization and a cluster analysis using Gower's distance and Ward method to find a typology. Findings: Logistic regression analyses show that service utilization was associated with being younger, a woman or without fixed abode, with presenting lifetime alcohol problems or current antisocial personality disorders, or with having been an inpatient and with being part of a larger network. Six types of homeless mentally ill were identified: 1) women; 2) men with schizophrenia; 3) ex-depressive and ex-alcoholics; 4) ex-homeless; 5) those with current depressive disorders and 6) with comorbidity; Conclusions: These results suggest the direction of future interventions for this underserved population, and indicate the need for additional studies using a utilization model. Implications: Nursing interventions in community settings can be suited for this population that need help.
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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004