Use of Outpatient Mental Health Services by Homeless Veterans After Hurricanes
Use of Outpatient Mental Health Services by Homeless Veterans After Hurricanes
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DOI：
10.1037/a0031516
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发表时间：
2013-05-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Casey, Roger
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Brown, Lisa M.;Barnett, Scott;Casey, Roger
关于飓风对灾难发生时无家可归的人的影响，人们知之甚少。尽管研究人员已经广泛研究了灾难对普通人群造成的无家可归的心理社会后果，但关注于了解无家可归者的情况的努力仅限于少数媒体报道和灰色文献。一旦发生飓风，无家可归的退伍军人可能会因为他们的累积脆弱性而面临更大的负面后果风险。卫生保健统计数据一贯表明，与普通人群相比，无家可归的退伍军人经历了更高的医疗、情感、药物滥用、法律和经济问题。本研究使用2004年至2006年退伍军人健康管理局(VHA)门诊医疗数据集来检查飓风对无家可归退伍军人使用门诊精神卫生服务的影响。居住在受飓风影响的县的无家可归退伍军人明显更有可能参加集体心理治疗(32.4%比13.4%，p<；.002)，但不太可能参加单独的30-40分钟的医疗评估(3.5%比17.3%，p<；.001)。这项研究结果对无家可归者计划和为灾后无家可归的退伍军人提供VHA心理健康服务具有一定的意义。
Little is known about the impact of hurricanes on people who are homeless at the time a disaster occurs. Although researchers have extensively studied the psychosocial consequences of disaster produced homelessness on the general population, efforts focused on understanding how homeless people fare have been limited to a few media reports and the gray literature. In the event of a hurricane, homeless veterans may be at increased risk for negative outcomes because of their cumulative vulnerabilities. Health care statistics consistently document that homeless veterans experience higher rates of medical, emotional, substance abuse, legal, and financial problems compared with the general population. This study used the 2004 to 2006 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Outpatient Medical Dataset to examine the effects of hurricanes on use of outpatient mental health services by homeless veterans. Homeless veterans residing in hurricane-affected counties were significantly more likely to participate in group psychotherapy (32.4% vs. 13.4%, p < .002), but less likely to participate in individual 30-40-min sessions with medical evaluations (3.5% vs. 17.3%, p < .001). The study findings have implications for homeless programs and the provision of VHA mental health services to homeless veterans postdisaster.