• Nádia Nara Rolim Lima, Ricardo Inácio de Souza, Pedro Walisson Gomes Feitosa, Jorge Lucas de Sousa Moreira, Claudio Gleidiston Lima da Silva, and Modesto Leite Rolim Neto.
• The Suicidology Research Group from Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
• Psychiatry Res. 2020 Jun 1; 288: 112945.

BackgroundInsufficient housing quality is associated with stress and mental health impacts. Crowding, pollution, noise, inadequate lighting, lack of access to green spaces, and other environmental factors associated with slums can exacerbate mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, violence, and other forms of social dysfunction.MethodThe studies were identified using large-sized newspapers with international circulation.ResultsExperts say that people who sleep in shelters or on the streets already have lower life expectancy, suffer from addiction, and have underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk should they develop the virus. There are just so many competing and unmet needs, which makes it much harder for homeless to contend with all of this. If exposed, people experiencing homelessness might be more susceptible to illness or death due to the prevalence of underlying physical and mental medical conditions and a lack of reliable and affordable health care. Nevertheless, without an urgent solution, people experiencing homelessness will remain in limbo.ConclusionsMany people living on the streets already have a diminished health condition, higher rates of chronic illnesses or compromised immune systems, all of which are risk factors for developing a more serious manifestation of the coronavirus infection. Those suffering from mental illness may have difficulty in recognizing and responding to the threat of infection. Homeless people have less access to health care providers who could otherwise order diagnostic testing and, if confirmed, isolate them from others in coordination with local health departments.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

27 keywords...

hide…