Citation

Ponce AN, Lawless MS, Rowe M. Community Ment. Health J. 2014; 50(7): 831-840.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA, allison.ponce@yale.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10597-014-9712-0

PMID

24566559

Abstract

Homeless women comprise a significant portion of the homeless population and may encounter multiple life stressors including mental illness, substance abuse, and trauma. Women who are homeless may experience difficulty gaining access to resources such as shelter and health care. In addition, the interaction of behavioral health problems with intimate partner violence (IPV) may create extraordinary barriers to their engagement in services. This paper explores the co-occurrence of homelessness, behavioral health problems, and IPV and lessons learned through a gender-specific homeless services program designed to reach women who are unengaged in traditional services. Recommendations for providing gender-responsive services are discussed.

Language: en