Mental Health of Homeless People in US

Memorandum
To: City Council
From: Alice Wong
Date: February 2, 2020
Subject: Mental Health of Homeless People
Introduction:
The main purpose of this research is to address the effect of the homelessness status on the
individual's psychological condition and the mental health and region of interest is United States.
I propose greater funding for supportive housing and independent housing for people struggling
with homelessness issues. The main rationale for increasing funding in this area is that
homelessness is a traumatic condition that exacerbates mental illness and leads to higher levels
of psychological distress, risky behavior and alcohol use. Thus, as homelessness increases the
cost linked to mental illness, getting funding is important to eliminate its adverse impact on
mental health of an individual. This funding could be achieved by making key stakeholders
aware about the prevalence of homelessness and the extent to which it increase risk of mental
illness.
Background:
As compared to the general population, mental illness is more likely to prevail in the psyche of
the people who have been homeless. This has been proved by numerous studies done in the past
which shows the prevalence of mental illness among homeless people. As per the study
conducted in the year 2015 by Narendorf (2017), a huge proportion of the participants reported
being homeless and this contributed to mental illness by disrupting social support networks,
foster care involvement and traumatic care. Thus, interconnection between homelessness and
mental health was seriously proved by this study. The study by Perry and Craig (2015) indicated
that compared to those who are houses, the prevalence of serious mental illness is higher in
homeless people. This has contributed to high rate of self-harm, attempted suicide and
personality disorder. Thus, identifying appropriate interventions that improve mental health of
homeless people is important.
Benefits and Feasibility:
According to the study by Lam, Arora and Menchine (2016), 15% of people with mental illness
suffer from homelessness. These groups of people are vulnerable to substance abuse, infection
and limited self-care ability. The benefit of the proposal lies in its ability to substantiate the fact
that mental illness is one of the contributing factors behind the homeless status of a huge number
of people and draw the concentration toward the issue (Martin 2015).
The research will be feasible, as it would as the research will be conducted by surveys in
different areas and this is achievable by visiting homeless group and completing the survey
questionnaire.
Description of the proposed work: