Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T18:58:43.768Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Health in hostels: a survey of hostel dwelling women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Sarah V. L. Marriott
Affiliation:
Royal College of Psychiatrists' Research Unit, London SW1X
Richard H. Harvey
Affiliation:
The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London WC1N 3BG
Deirdre Bonner*
Affiliation:
West London Healthcare NHS Trust, Uxbridge Road, Southall, Middlesex UB1 3EU
*
Correspondence
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Direct access residents in an inner London homeless women's hostel were interviewed and asked to provide information on medical, personal and social history. For each a DSM–III–R diagnosis, General Health Questionnaire, CAGE and Global Assessment Scale score was assigned, and their views on future housing were sought. The effect of severe mental illness (SMI) and age on dependent variables was examined. A third of the sample (n=14) suffered from SMI, and a further quarter from other mental illness (n=10). A quarter had a DSM–III–R substance misuse disorder. The prevalence of SMI was similar across age groups. Younger women had a different pattern of service needs, with greater levels of psychological distress, substance misuse and residential instability, than older residents.

Type
Original Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Boehnein, J. K. (1987) A review of mental health services for refugees between 1975 and 1985 and proposal for future services. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 38, 764768.Google Scholar
Endicott, J., Spitzer, R. L., Fleiss, J. L., et al (1976) The global assessment scale. Archives of General Psychiatry, 33, 766771.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldberg, D. (1978) Manual of the General Health Questionnaire. Slough: National Foundation for Educational Research.Google Scholar
Harris, M., & Bachrach, L. L. (1990) Perspectives on Homeless Mentally Ill Women. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 41, 253254.Google ScholarPubMed
Jenkins, R. & Meltzer, H. (1995) The national survey of psychiatric morbidity in Great Britain. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 30, 14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, E. J. (1992) Psychiatric morbidity in homeless women. British Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 761768.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mayfield, D., Macleod, G. & Hall, P. (1974) The CAGE Questionnaire: validation of a new alcoholism screening instrument. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 11211123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, J. (1993) Homelessness and mental illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 314324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, J. & Brown, G. (1970) Institutionalism and Schizophrenia: A Comparative Study of Three Mental Hospitals 1960–1968. London: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.