Medical Care of the Homeless: An American and International Issue

Homeless persons die significantly younger than their housed counterparts. In many cases, relatively straightforward primary care issues escalate into life-threatening, expensive emergencies. Poor health outcomes driven by negative interactions between comorbid symptoms meet the definition of a health syndemic in this population. Successful primary care of patients struggling with homelessness may result in long-term lifesaving measures along with decreased expenditure to hospital systems. This primary prevention requires patience, creativity, and acknowledgment that the source of many confounders may lay outside the control of these patients.