Health problems of sheltered homeless women and their dependent children

Increasing numbers of homeless female-headed families are entering temporary shelters. Social workers who work with sheltered families are confronted with a complex array of health care problems. This article introduces an analytic framework that classifies the types of health problems that emerge among shelter residents and serves as a guide to social work intervention with the health problems of shelter residents. The framework covers three categories of health problems: illness coincident with homelessness, those exacerbated by limited health care access, and those associated with the psychosocial burdens of homelessness. The failures of the current structure of the health care reimbursement and the deficiencies of service delivery to homeless families are discussed. The analytic framework conceptualizes the interrelationship between health and poverty. It can be used as a tool for informed social work intervention, advocacy, training, and research activities.