RESIDENTIAL STATUS, DRUG USE, HEALTH AMONG IMPOVERISHED WOMEN

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Better residential status, such as being housed as opposed to being homeless and having a stable residence, has been associated with better health. Drug use, HIV/AIDS, violence, and mental health are serious, overlapping issues among impoverished women. The extent to which these health issues are associated with residential status among impoverished women has received limited attention, yet such data might inform innovative prevention and intervention strategies and could serve to further highlight housing as a public health priority for the nation. We propose a small, time-limited study that blends quantitative and qualitative approaches to achieve the goal of improving our understanding of the relationship between residential status and drug use, HIV risk behaviors (i.e., risky sex), violence, and mental health among impoverished women, and that will serve as a foundation for future experimental work examining the relationship between residential status and health in this population. Specific Aims: 1. Understand the relationship between residential status and health (i.e., drug use, HIV risk behaviors, victimization by violence, mental health) among impoverished women through secondary analyses of longitudinal structured interview data gathered from a probability sample of 402 impoverished women interviewed in shelters in Los Angeles County. 2. Conduct focus groups (2 to 3 groups, 6-8 participants each) with community-based providers of housing, shelter, and other services to impoverished women in Los Angeles County to (a) understand quantitative associations between residential status and health among impoverished women within a community context, (b) understand how the associations can be currently addressed in the community by local providers and policymakers, and (c) explore the feasibility of fielding an experimental trial in the community to test the relationship between residential status and health. This project will culminate with a scholarly publication and local presentation, and plans to field an experimental trial to more rigorously test a relationship between residential status and health among impoverished women in Los Angeles County.