Homeless Women: Drugs, Race/Ethicity, And Health Care

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DESCRIPTION: (provided by applicant) Research has shown that drug use and physical health problems are quite common among the homeless and that their general health-care needs often go unmet. However, much of this research is based on samples composed largely of homeless men. To date, there has been little research on the relationship between drug use and utilization of general health care among homeless women. Moreover, possible racial/ethnic differences in this relationship have not been extensively examined. This study will employ secondary data from two complementary funded studies to analyze the association between drug use and use of general health care (inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive). The first dataset screened for lifetime drug dependence in a community-based probability sample of 861 homeless women in Los Angeles County, and the second dataset assessed current heavy drug use and lifetime injection drug use in a purposive sample of 1,330 homeless women in Los Angeles. We will test hypotheses regarding a wide range of predisposing and enabling factors (such as case management, health insurance, and access to public benefits) potentially associated with access to general health services by African American, Latina, and White homeless women with drug problems. The proposed study directly addresses policy questions prominent in NIDA's strategic plan on reducing health disparities. By documenting the nature and extent of health problems affecting drug-using homeless women, their use of general health services, the extent to which their need for care goes unmet, and possible racial/ethnic differences in these patterns, this study will inform drug treatment providers on the value and content of screening/assessment procedures they might employ and the types of general health services for which more effective linkage is needed.