ALMOST HALF of homeless people in a survey by the Simon Communities have been found to have a diagnosed mental health problem and more than half a diagnosed physical health condition.
The Simon “snapshot” study is published this morning. It is a survey of more than 600 people using Simon services across the State in the first week of July this year. The charity supports about 5,000 homeless people each year.
Half of those surveyed used alcohol and 44 per cent of these reported health complications as a result.
Figures published last week by both the Dublin Simon Community and Merchants Quay Ireland found sharp rises in the number sleeping rough in the past year.
This latest homelessness study finds 31 per cent used drugs, 52 per cent of who used intravenously. Also 76 per cent of people using drugs had used more than one type over a period – polydrug use. Some 12 per cent had an intellectual disability, 19 per cent had self-harmed and while 23 per cent expressed suicidal thoughts 17 per cent had actually attempted suicide.
The survey finds: “Sixty five per cent had a diagnosed physical health condition and 47 per cent had a diagnosed mental health condition.”
It will be discussed today at the Simon National Conference, which is looking at the impact of homelessness on a person’s health.
The charity’s national research and policy manager, Niamh Randall, said it was clear that once a person became homeless “the deterioration in the physical and mental health can be both rapid and debilitating”.
It was clear the homeless population was disproportionately “very sick and very vulnerable” and that their numbers were growing.
“There are many different reasons why a person becomes homeless but generally the explanation lies in a combination of structural factors such as poverty or unemployment or personal factors such as family breakdown or health problems.
She said she hoped today’s conference would increase awareness of the particular health needs of homeless people and that these would be seen as critically central when developing homelessness services.
Today’s conference opens Simon Week, which takes place across the State from today until Sunday.
