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People over age 50 are the fastest-growing segment of people experiencing homelessness and makeup almost half of the total homeless population. These unhoused individuals typically have the health of someone 20 years older in the general population. DeDe Hancock, a CASPEH Lived Expertise Advisory Board member, discusses her own experience with becoming homeless when she was 52 years old, and Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, outlines the health impacts of older adult homelessness. Ms. Hancock said, "I was going from shelter to shelter. Over seven years, I was out on the street for maybe five days - otherwise, I was in a shelter."

Although only 9% of Sacramento's general population is Black, Black residents now comprise 35% of Sacramento's homeless population. A special report released by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative on Black Californians' experiences of homelessness highlights the systemic causes that have left so many unhoused. Kara Young Ponder, PhD, director of community engagement and racial justice at the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "When you consider (leaving) homelessness, you think about the requirements needed to get back into housing — waiting lists, who gets a voucher, who doesn’t get a voucher. It’s hard to get housing or a room. It’s even harder for Black Americans."

The aging of the homeless population is a stark demographic shift. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, found that unhoused people have the health profiles of patients two decades older, with similar rates of incontinence, dementia, and falls. Respite care, a temporary, short-term, 24-hour supervised care for seniors, is rapidly growing for people experiencing homelessness, reflecting the aging of the unhoused population.

On the second day of the CalMatters Ideas Festival panelists discussed homelessness solutions, moderated by Marissa Kendall. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, and Robynne Rose-Haymer, one of the CASPEH Lived Expertise Advisory Board members, were panelists. Ms. Rose-Haymer said, "By rooting people out forcibly, it does nothing to build that trust, and in fact, harms the very services that we are paying billions of dollars to stand up."

A panel at the CalMatters Ideas Festival debates how to reduce homelessness without punishing poverty. Panelists discussed the underlying causes and what California should be focusing on. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "We know how to treat people, you have to start, though, with the housing." 

Homelessness is detrimental to health, and clinicians can play an essential role in mitigating the deleterious effects of homelessness. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, discusses this and more with JAMA Senior Editor Karen E. Lasser, MD, MPH. Dr. Kushel said, "When you are an individual provider, in a room, you are trying to understand the difficult environmental conditions that your patient has and do things to decrease that part."

A recent special report released by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative on older adult homelessness found that nearly half of California's homeless population is now 50 and older. These older adults are staying homeless for longer and are in poorer health than their younger peers. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "These are people living on fixed incomes, on disability, on really meager pensions, and they really need housing that they can afford."

Among people experiencing homelessness in California, nearly half of the population is now over the age of 50. By 50, a homeless person’s health more closely resembles that of someone in their 70s, with a higher chance of chronic disease, mobility issues, and cognitive decline, according to a recent special report released by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative on older adult homelessness. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "We could meaningfully reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness if we focused on this group."

The point-in-time count offers a snapshot into the scope of homelessness in different communities, but most experts agree that the methodology is inaccurate and flawed. In this forum, Sydney Johnson speaks with experts to demystify the counting process and understand this year's numbers. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "We learned a lot about what we can do when we treat homelessness like the crisis that it is."

Becoming homeless is an extreme example of the financial squeeze on caregivers. In the early 2000's research revealed people experiencing homelessness in California were getting older. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, and her team found that older homeless adults who occasionally stay with a family member were actively caregiving. Dr. Kushel said, "These were folks who had left behind something to go care for mom, and then the bottom falls out."