To the Editor: As a veteran of the Iraq war who is studying homeless veterans, I am saddened by the conditions of the transition unit, but not surprised.
In a number of studies, homeless women are identified as either accompanied by children or unaccompanied by children.
We studied homeless persons, for whom analysis of risk factors associated with HEV infection emphasized injection drug use (2 ).
In these studies, homeless men, women and youth described unprotected sex events involving partners with whom they had used condoms in the past but switched to unprotected sex after their relationship developed a strong emotional bond.
Although examples of sexual coercion and deference to male partner preferences for unprotected sex were noted in these studies, homeless women and girls also described how feelings of trust and safety with their male partners often led them to initiate unprotected sex.
Axtell has traveled and studied hunger, sustainable development and/or liberation theology in Bangladesh, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico and Nicaragua, and he has studied homelessness and homeless shelters in major American cities.
One example of the many adverse health effects of homelessness, a study of homeless children in New York City found that 61% had not been immunized, 38% had asthma, and they had a 50% greater chance of ear infections (Redlener and Johnson 1999).
This finding suggests that, given time to readjust from prison life, drug and alcohol use continues after discharge from prison and is consistent with findings from a study of homeless adults in New York City, where homelessness was associated with history of incarceration, continued drug use, emotional instability, and poor family support (Caton et al. 2005).
A City Council study of homeless youths found that roughly 3,800 gay youths spend the night homeless on any given day.
This review was only able to identify five studies that examined the barriers to quitting smoking within prisoner (n=2 studies) and homeless (n=3) groups, and one study focusing on at-risk youth.
