Sheltered in cyberspace? Computer use among the unsheltered ‘street’ homeless

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Abstract

Although physical health, mental health, and substance use problems are disproportionately high among the homeless, those with greater access to their social support systems report better outcomes than others. Communication with loved ones can be challenging for this population because of lack of access to telephone landlines. Computer technology may be an alternative medium for this population to access their social support systems, which, in turn, could lead toward better health outcomes. This exploratory study examined the computer use of 100 unsheltered homeless men and women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Participants were interviewed using the Homeless Supplement to the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, a technology use module created for this investigation, and the substance use and psychiatric sections of the Addiction Severity Index. Almost half (47%) of the sample reported computer use in the past 30 days (averaging 17.67 h and 30 days). Participants used computers to maintain their sense of social connectedness, for business purposes (job and housing searches), and for leisure. Computer technology could be used to disseminate information, prevent, screen, and treat many conditions, and collect data with this difficult-to-reach population. This technology has the potential to increase access to much needed services at a relatively low cost.

Section snippets

Background

The problem of homelessness is receiving increased attention, as evidenced by the recent release of the first ever comprehensive Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness (US Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2010). In 2009, according to the most recent national report on homelessness (US Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2010), 643,067 individuals were homeless on one winter night and 1,558,917 individuals stayed overnight at an emergency shelter or transitional

Sample recruitment

Temple University’s Institutional Review Board approved the study in March 2009, and data were collected between March and July 2009. The study’s primary purpose was to examine the social networks of homeless adults who do not use the shelter system in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, so a snowball sample of the ‘street homeless’ (N = 100) was recruited. A local homeless services provider introduced the investigator to five individuals who had been sleeping on the streets for several years. The

Results

The typical participant was male (73%), middle-aged (45.00 ± 10.02 years), African-American (78%), non-Hispanic (95%), Christian (70%), educated (63% had a high school degree or GED), unskilled (60%), unemployed (65%), and never married (59%) (Table 1). The majority of participants spent the past 14 nights exclusively on the streets (63%) and had been homeless more than once (52%). Participants reported 11.69 ± 8.86 mean years of lifetime homelessness. The sample is comprised of the longer-term

Discussion

This investigation’s purpose was to examine if and how people who sleep on the streets use computer technology. To our knowledge, this investigation is the first to examine this phenomenon among unsheltered (street) homeless adults. Although this investigation’s sample is comprised of the longer-term homeless (with a mean of nearly 12 years of lifetime homelessness), a substantial proportion (47%) had used a computer in the past month.

Compared to Redpath and colleagues’ study of 265 homeless and

Acknowledgements

The author thank Temple University for the Study Leave and Grant-in-Aid supporting this work, Ms. Misty Sparks at the Bethesda Project Café for supplying space for interviewing, Mr. Jacob Bowling and Ms. Tarissa Sweat for assistance with interviewing, Ms. Julie Denlinger for assistance with data entry, Dr. Nick Garg for his editorial assistance, and the 100 men and women who graciously volunteered to participate in this research study.

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