Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Health

Advisor

Hadi Danawi

Abstract

AbstractHomelessness is a major public health issue in the United States. Every night, thousands of people have no residence to call their own. Most homeless persons turn to homeless shelters for help. Despite the homeless shelters, the problem of homelessness persists. This study examined the concept that the length of time spent at a homeless shelter is related to the homeless persons mitigating their homelessness through home placement, jobs, and healthcare access. Homelessness was examined using the socioecological model with its attendant levels of influence. On the intrapersonal level, socioeconomic status, education, old age, veteran status, and disability were factors. On the interpersonal level, the lack of family support is a major factor. The community, institutional, and policy levels feature the stigma of homelessness, incarceration, local and federal laws, and lack of low-cost housing. The data were obtained from a homeless shelter in the MidAtlantic region of the United States and there were 236 participants. The study analyzed the said data to establish if the length of stay (LOS) at the shelter was a significant predictor for gaining housing, jobs, and access to healthcare using the observational design and multiple logistic regression analysis. The result showed a 1.018 increase in gaining housing with every unit increase in LOS (95%CI = 1.006-1.031). There was no statistical significance in the association between LOS and job acquisition and healthcare access. A positive relationship between LOS and home placement as shown in this study will help stakeholders, program directors, and governments to determine the average length of time needed by shelters to mitigate homelessness through home placement effecting social change.

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