News

The United States has an aging population, and sufficient end-of-life care is a growing problem. For people adults who are unhoused, long-term medical care is often inaccessible. There are a few facilities across the country that provide end-of-life hospice care to people experiencing homelessness, but there is not much known about mortality figures among the unhoused. Margot Kushel, MD, director of UCSF’s Benioff Housing and Homelessness Initiative, said, "The truth of the matter is most of the country is entirely unprepared for this."

In this episode of the Prioritizing Equity series, Dr. Emily Cleveland Manchanda speaks with a panel about health care planning and caring for patients experiencing houselessness. The panel included, Dez Martinez, Denise De Las Nueces, MD, Margot Kushel, MD, Stephen Brown, MSW, and Yinan Lan, MD. Dr. Kushel, director of UCSF’s Benioff Housing and Homelessness Initiative, said, "If you look at the states with the highest percentage of their population experiencing houselessness, those are the states with the lowest level of housing. So, we need to raise our voices and say every place we can that the solution to homelessness is housing."

This news piece describes the complex economics surrounding homelessness. Margot Kushel, MD, director of UCSF's BHHI, emphasizes “Homelessness is a symptom of our country's failure to prioritize housing as a human right.” Highlighting the societal costs of homelessness, it underscores the urgency for comprehensive policy interventions and a paradigm shift towards viewing housing as a fundamental human need rather than a commodity.

In this podcast episode of Marketplace, host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Margot Kushel, MD, director of UCSF’s Benioff Housing and Homelessness Initiative about the complicated role mental health plays in the homelessness crisis. Dr. Kushel said, "Homelessness is devastating to one's mental health. The constant violence that people are exposed to...the lack of sleep, the stress and uncertainty, the humiliation - all of these worsen people's mental health."

Nearly a quarter of a million people 55 years or older are estimated to be homeless in the US. Communities are trying to come up with a novel solution. Margot Kushel, MD, director of UCSF’s Benioff Housing and Homelessness Initiative, said, "It's just a catastrophe. This is the fastest-growing group of people whoa re homeless."

In this podcast episode of In Clear Terms with AARP California, host Dr. Thyonne Gordon spoke with Margot Kushel, MD, director of UCSF’s Benioff Housing and Homelessness Initiative. Dr. Gordon and Dr. Kushel talk about the state of older adult homelessness in California, and the complex interactions between health and homelessness, and potential solutions to prevent and address the issue. Dr Kushel said, "The reason so many people are homeless in California, is we do not have the housing. If you ask the question though, 'Why is this person homeless', then you can see how things like illness, including mental health or substance use, can leave you vulnerable."

Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Housing and Homelessness Initiative, said far too many reactions to visible homelessness, as well as conversations addressing potential solutions, are “based on people’s fears as opposed to action.” Dr. Kushel called violence against unhoused people a “hidden epidemic” in a blog post last year, noting that homeless people are disproportionately likely to be victims of violence. Unhoused offenders are comparably rare, she said, yet often draw outsized attention and media coverage as opposed to unhoused victims.

In this Medical Grand Rounds at the University of Washington, Margot Kushel, MD, a professor of medicine and directs both the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations and the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, discusses the drivers and precipitants of homelessness, the demographics of homelessness in the United States, the health consequences of aging in the homeless population, and interventions and solutions.

Margot Kushel, MD, director of UCSF’s Benioff Housing and Homelessness Initiative, talks about aging, the structural and individual factors that contribute to homelessness, and much more in the GeriPal podcast with Eric Widera, MD, and Alex Smith, MD, MPH, MS. During the conversation, Dr. Kushel said, "I like to say homelessness is a state and not a trait. It’s not an intrinsic quality of a person. It is an experience that they go through."

In this Grand Rounds at Dartmouth Medical School, Margot Kushel, MD, one of the world’s leading experts on homelessness, discusses the drivers and precipitants of homelessness, the demographics of homelessness, and the health consequences of aging in the homeless population. Dr. Kushel is a professor of medicine and directs both the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations and the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.