"Homelessness and Trauma Go Hand-in-Hand": Pathways to Homelessness among Women Veterans
"Homelessness and Trauma Go Hand-in-Hand": Pathways to Homelessness among Women Veterans
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.whi.2011.04.005
复制
发表时间：
2011-07-01
影响因子：
3.2
通讯作者：
Washington, Donna L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hamilton, Alison B.;Poza, Ines;Washington, Donna L.
背景：退伍军人在全国无家可归人口中所占比例过高，女性退伍军人无家可归的可能性是非退伍军人女性的四倍。本文对女退伍军人陷入无家可归的途径进行了扎实的描述。方法：在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶举行了三个焦点小组，共有 29 名无家可归的女退伍军人。结果：五个主要“根源”（沉淀经历）引发了无家可归的途径：1）童年逆境，2）服兵役期间的创伤和/或药物滥用，3）服兵役后的虐待、逆境和/或关系终止，4）退伍后心理健康、药物滥用和/或医疗问题，以及 5) 失业。促进无家可归现象在原初根源发展的环境因素包括女退伍军人的“幸存者本能”、缺乏社会支持和资源、孤立感、明显的独立感以及护理障碍。这些背景因素还强化了退伍逆境、心理健康和药物滥用问题的根源的持续存在，从而维持了长期无家可归的循环。结论：总的来说，这些多重的、相互作用的根源和背景因素形成了一个“脆弱性网络”，这是行动的目标。无家可归之路上的多个点代表了退伍军人管理局和社区组织代表女性退伍军人参与预防或干预工作的关键时刻。考虑到这些女退伍军人所描述的多重、相互关联的挑战，无家可归问题的解决方案应解决多种风险因素，包括承认女退伍军人的创伤经历的创伤知情护理，并纳入有助于治愈和康复的整体应对措施。由爱思唯尔公司出版
Background: Veterans comprise a disproportionate fraction of the nation's homeless population, with women veterans up to four times more likely to be homeless than non-veteran women. This paper provides a grounded description of women veterans' pathways into homelessness.Methods: Three focus groups were held in Los Angeles, California, with a total of 29 homeless women veterans.Results: Five predominant "roots" (precipitating experiences) initiated pathways toward homelessness: 1) childhood adversity, 2) trauma and/or substance abuse during military service, 3) post-military abuse, adversity, and/or relationship termination, 4) post-military mental health, substance abuse, and/or medical problems, and 5) unemployment. Contextual factors, which promoted development of homelessness in the setting of primary roots, included women veterans' "survivor instinct," lack of social support and resources, sense of isolation, pronounced sense of independence, and barriers to care. These contextual factors also reinforced persistence of the roots of post-military adversity and mental health and substance abuse problems, serving to maintain cycles of chronic homelessness.Conclusion: Collectively, these multiple, interacting roots and contextual factors form a "web of vulnerability" that is a target for action. Multiple points along the pathways to homelessness represent critical junctures for VA and community-based organizations to engage in prevention or intervention efforts on behalf of women veterans. Considering the multiple, interconnected challenges that these women veterans described, solutions to homelessness should address multiple risk factors, include trauma-informed care that acknowledges women veterans' traumatic experiences, and incorporate holistic responses that can contribute to healing and recovery. Published by Elsevier Inc.