Evidenced-Based Recommendations for Health Care Professionals in the Emergency Departement Working with the Homeless

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to establish best practice recommendations for health care professionals (HCP) working in the emergency department (ED) and caring for homeless patients. It is estimated that there are about 550,000 homeless people in the United States (HUD, 2016). Those that are homeless have a three to five times higher risk of mortality related to illness than the non-homeless person (Weber, et al., 2013). The main barriers to health care are transportation, cost, insurance, paperwork, knowledge about resources, communication issues, respect, time restraints and mental illness and/or substance abuse. HCP must understand these obstacles in order to provide optimal care for this vulnerable population. The recommendations for providing care tailored to the homeless include screenings, consultation, advocacy, health teaching, referral and follow-up and case management. The recommendations are theoretically implemented into an ED in Tucson, Arizona through staff training and evaluation.