Abstract

On a single night in the United States, more than 550,000 persons are homeless, a number that has increased in recent years. Homeless persons are disproportionately afflicted by acute and chronic communicable and non-communicable diseases, mental health disorders, and substance use disorders. These health disparities contribute to premature mortality: a marked life expectancy gap, as the average lifespan of a homeless person is 42 to 52 years, compared to 78 years among the general population. Further contributing to this gap is historic barriers to healthcare system access and use, such as lack of health insurance and resulted fragmented care receipt. With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, a widening of Medicaid eligibility criteria addressed the lack of health insurance barriers. The purpose of this dissertation study was to explore the factors that influence health and health systems use among vulnerable populations, specifically among homeless persons.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 13807562; ProQuest document ID: 2224685667. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Kirsten A. Dickins, PhD, AM, MSN, FNP-C

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Other

Research Approach

Mixed/Multi Method Research

Keywords:

Heathcare Access, Homeless Persons, Affordable Care Act

Advisor

Susan W. Buchholz

Second Advisor

Lynne T. Braun

Third Advisor

Rebekah J. Hamilton

Fourth Advisor

Niranjan S. Karnik

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

Rush University

Degree Year

2019

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2021-09-20

Full Text of Presentation

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