Medical respite programs for homeless patients: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Social Medicine

Background:

• Homeless populations face significant health challenges, often lacking access to appropriate care.
• Medical respite programs serve individuals too ill for shelters but not requiring hospitalization.
• There is growing interest in these programs, yet their effectiveness remains unquantified by systematic review.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review the effectiveness of medical respite programs.
• To evaluate the impact of these programs on patient health outcomes and healthcare utilization.
• To identify gaps in current research regarding medical respite care.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a comprehensive literature search across biomedical and sociological databases, including grey literature.
• Included 13 articles that met predefined inclusion criteria.
• Acknowledged heterogeneity in study methodologies, quality, and outcome measures.

Main Results:

• Medical respite programs demonstrated a reduction in future hospital admissions, inpatient days, and readmissions.
• Significant improvements in housing outcomes were observed for participants.
• Findings regarding emergency department use and healthcare costs were mixed but indicated positive trends.

Conclusions:

• Medical respite programs are effective in reducing hospital utilization and improving housing stability for homeless patients.
• Further research with robust comparison groups is necessary to fully elucidate program impacts.
• These findings support the expansion and implementation of medical respite services.