TY - JOUR
T1 - Homeless Shelter Entry in the Year After an Emergency Department Visit
T2 - Results From a Linked Data Analysis
AU - Doran, Kelly M.
AU - Johns, Eileen
AU - Schretzman, Maryanne
AU - Zuiderveen, Sara
AU - Shinn, Marybeth
AU - Gulati, Rajneesh
AU - Wittman, Ian
AU - Culhane, Dennis
AU - Shelley, Donna
AU - Mijanovich, Tod
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article as per ICMJE conflict of interest guidelines (see www.icmje.org ). The authors have stated that no such relationships exist. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health ( K23DA039179 ), the United Hospital Fund, and the Doris Duke Charitable Trust– NYULMC .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American College of Emergency Physicians
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - Study objective: Housing instability is prevalent among emergency department (ED) patients and is known to adversely affect health. We aim to determine the incidence and timing of homeless shelter entry after an ED visit among patients who are not currently homeless. Methods: We conducted a random-sample survey of ED patients at an urban public hospital from November 2016 to September 2017. Patients provided identifying information and gave informed consent for us to link their survey data with the New York City Department of Homeless Services shelter database. Shelter use was followed prospectively for 12 months after the baseline ED visit. We examined timing of shelter entry in the 12 months after the ED visit, excluding patients who were homeless at baseline. Results: Of 1,929 unique study participants who were not currently homeless, 96 (5.0%) entered a shelter within 12 months of their baseline ED visit. Much of the shelter entry occurred in the first month after the ED visit, with continued yet slower rates of entry in subsequent months. Patients in our sample who entered a shelter were predominantly men and non-Hispanic black, and commonly had past shelter and frequent ED use. Conclusion: In this single-center study, 5.0% of urban ED patients who were not currently homeless entered a homeless shelter within the year after their ED visit. Particularly if replicated elsewhere, this finding suggests that ED patients may benefit from efforts to identify housing instability and direct them to homelessness prevention programs.
AB - Study objective: Housing instability is prevalent among emergency department (ED) patients and is known to adversely affect health. We aim to determine the incidence and timing of homeless shelter entry after an ED visit among patients who are not currently homeless. Methods: We conducted a random-sample survey of ED patients at an urban public hospital from November 2016 to September 2017. Patients provided identifying information and gave informed consent for us to link their survey data with the New York City Department of Homeless Services shelter database. Shelter use was followed prospectively for 12 months after the baseline ED visit. We examined timing of shelter entry in the 12 months after the ED visit, excluding patients who were homeless at baseline. Results: Of 1,929 unique study participants who were not currently homeless, 96 (5.0%) entered a shelter within 12 months of their baseline ED visit. Much of the shelter entry occurred in the first month after the ED visit, with continued yet slower rates of entry in subsequent months. Patients in our sample who entered a shelter were predominantly men and non-Hispanic black, and commonly had past shelter and frequent ED use. Conclusion: In this single-center study, 5.0% of urban ED patients who were not currently homeless entered a homeless shelter within the year after their ED visit. Particularly if replicated elsewhere, this finding suggests that ED patients may benefit from efforts to identify housing instability and direct them to homelessness prevention programs.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85083736221&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85083736221&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2020.03.006
DO - 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2020.03.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 32331843
AN - SCOPUS:85083736221
SN - 0196-0644
VL - 76
SP - 462
EP - 467
JO - Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians
JF - Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians
IS - 4
ER -