• Ellen Mulcahy, Dorota Szymkowiak, and Ann Elizabeth Montgomery.
• From Department of Behavioral and Social Science, University of Sciences (EM); National Center on Homelessness among Veterans (DS); National Center on Homelessness among Veterans, Birmingham VA Medical Center, and University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Birmingham, AL (AEM). emulcahy@usciences.edu.
• J Am Board Fam Med. 2021 Mar 1; 34 (2): 387-391.

IntroductionPreventing and ending homelessness for women veterans, a priority of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), can be aided by identifying factors that increase their risk for housing instability.MethodsThis study relied on data from the Veterans Health Administration's universal screen for housing instability from Fiscal Year 2013 to 2016, and administrative data from electronic medical records. Using logistic regression, we compared 2 groups of women veterans: those who consistently had stable housing and those who transitioned to unstable housing after a period of housing stability.ResultsWe found that a history of military sexual trauma, lack of access to VA benefits and other financial resources, and single or divorced marital status were significant risk factors for women veterans' housing instability. These findings are consistent with an existing theoretical model of housing instability and homelessness among women veterans, which highlights the importance of traumatic and adverse events and isolation as risk factors.ConclusionsThese risk factors and their effect on women veterans' housing instability can be mitigated by new and increased supportive interventions, targeted to those at highest risk.© Copyright 2021 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

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