In our visit to this newly renovated Emergency Department facility at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, we heard of several cases of homeless individuals suffering with chronic or mental diseases who were frequent visitors of the facility. “The stress on the caregivers in emergency departments of hospitals has been often seen as a serious issue when it’s concerning mental health and substance abuse issues. But at the same time, the homeless are invisible in healthcare” explains Debra Riseman (Debbie), a social worker with the ED. Her role in this system was a facilitative one wherein she would help assess the case of the patients as they underwent their treatment.
She introduced us to the program Better Health Through Housing, an initiative with Housing First, Center for Housing and Health, that aims to get the homeless people a permanent roof through a coordinated process. We were told that hospitals find it less expensive to indulge in such programs as it decreases the strain on them and that the solution is cheaper than the problem. It positively impacts the homeless patients in many aspects such as impacting patients health through helping to stay out of bad weather, providing meals, and creating an environment just like a home. The info-graphic below explains the process of providing permanent support housing.
The current health system is fragmented in a way that fails to provide for a holistic requirement to the individuals in need. Due to this, there are tremendous amount of readmission in emergency departments across the city. Some of these patients are taking undue advantage of the care provision. If these conditions are taken care of at an early stage , it would help curtail the unnecessary expensive care provisions, through primary care. The need for introducing such a program was felt by the caregivers and the board at UIC Health systems and as per the Center for Housing and Health -
This program served and provided housing interventions for 96% of referred patients who were experiencing homelessness and frequent visitors to the Emergency Department. Plans are set to serve 25 more patients in 2018.
By advocating such an approach, the UIC has been successful in reducing the chronic homelessness situating of Chicago. Here's a link to a story shared by Latesha Holman, a chronically homeless patient, who owes the roof over her head to University of Illinois Hospital -
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-hospitals-house-homeless-0114-story.html
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