Little is known how older adults with a current or recent experience of homelessness navigated the switch to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers examined the perceptions and use of telehealth, sampling from a larger longitudinal study on homeless-experienced adults in Oakland, CA. They found that the participants experienced challenges accessing the necessary technologies for telehealth.

Many older homeless adults maintain contact with family. In this qualitative study, researches examine the role of family caregiving for older homeless adults and what is its potential role as a precipitant to and exit from homelessness. The researchers found that in the sample of older homeless adults who were in contact with their family, many older homeless adults provided caregiving services to housed family members.

Through interviews of HOPE HOME participants who reported living with family or friends, this qualitative study from BHHI researchers found that intergenerational trauma significantly a...

Older homeless-experienced adults have low engagement in advance care planning (ACP) despite high morbidity and mortality. Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a cohort of 350 homeless-experienced adults aged 50 and older in Oakland, California. They assessed the prevalence of potential surrogate decision-makers, ACP contemplation, discussions, and ACP documentation (surrogate designation, advance directives). Researchers found a low prevalence of engagement in a full range of ACP behaviors, including contemplation, discussions, and formal ACP documentation.

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."

The homeless population is aging and adults who experience homelessness for the first time in older age are more likely to progress to chronic homelessness. To prevent or delay homelessness, many people live temporarily live with family or friends. In this qualitative study of homeless older adults, researchers conducted 46 semi-structured interviews. They found that structural barriers to family and friends providing housing for temporary or permanent exits from homelessness included housing regulations, geographic and transportation challenges, and environments inconducive to older adults.

Older homeless-experienced adults have low rates of advance care planning (ACP) engagement. In this cross-sectional qualitative study, researchers examined potential barriers and solutions to ACP engagement. Researchers found that participants believed that ACP is important, but acknowledge the multiple barriers to engagement. Potential solutions include capitalizing on opportunities outside health care setting and focusing on the period after housing and tailoring content.

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."

In this cohort study, UCSF BHHI researchers found that most older homeless-experienced adults needed caregiving assistance and few received such assistance. Interventions that increase caregiving access for homeless-experienced individuals may help avoid poor health outcomes and costly long-term care needs due to untreated disabilities.

Depression is common in adults experiencing homelessness. In this cohort study, researchers examined the association between residential status and depressive symptoms in adults 50 years or older experiencing homelessness. Researchers found that continued homelessness was associated independently with increased odds of depressive symptoms.

This UCSF study found that adults experiencing homelessness have a high risk of incarceration. The authors emphasize the need for targeted interventions addressing substance use, homele...

Older homeless-experienced adults are at higher risk of loneliness than general older adults, yet less is known about the factors contributing to loneliness for this group. Loneliness is associated with multiple adverse health and mental health outcomes. This study examines this gap in our knowledge.

In this long-term study of 450 homeless adults age 50 and older, BHHI researchers examined how factors like regaining housing, using drugs, and having various chronic conditions, such as diabetes, affected participants' risk of dying. They found that 26% of the participants died within a few years of being enrolled, and people who first became homeless at age 50 or older were about 60% more likely to die than those who had become homeless earlier in life, and those who remained homeless were about 80% more likely to die than those who were able to return to housing. These findings illustrate an urgent need for policy approaches to prevent and end homelessness among older adults in the United States and suggest that addressing older adults’ barriers to health care and high rates of institutionalization may prevent premature mortality.

The prevalence of substance use decreases as individuals age, but older adults now have a higher prevalence of substance use than older adults did 10 years ago. People experiencing homelessness have a higher prevalence of substance use disorders compared to the general population. In this cohort study, researchers examined the prevalence of and factors associated with substance use in a population of homeless individuals aged 50 and older. They found a high prevalence of substance use and an association between psychiatric hospitalization and depression with substance use. Researchers also recommend targeted treatment programs and geriatric substance use workforce development.

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.

Older homeless adults living in shelters have high rates of geriatric conditions, which may increase their risk for acute care use and nursing home placement. In this cohort study, researchers interviewed homeless adults aged 50 and older to determine the prevalence of common geriatric conditions and if the prevalence of these conditions differs across living environments. Researchers found geriatric conditions were common among older homeless adults living in diverse environments.

In this qualitative study, UCSF BHHI researchers interviewed older unhoused adults to understand how structural determinants affect stays with family members among individuals experienc...

Homelessness among older adults is increasing; almost half of those aged 50 or older first became homeless after age 50. Benioff researcher found that individuals with late onset homelessness had very different stories compared to indviduals with early onset homelessness. Many individuals struggled with multiple chronic health problems, such as heart disease, chronic lung disease, and cancer. Ending homelessness among older adults will require increasing the supply of affordable housing, targeted prevention efforts, and expanding permanent supportive housing, adapted to older adult needs.

On this weeks episode of As Prescribed, Alice Wertz spoke with Margot Kushel, MD, a professor of medicine and director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at UCSF about the aging homeless population. Older people who experience homelessness tend to have health problems more commonly found in people who are in their 70s or 80s. Recent research has shown that about 48% of adults experiencing homelessness were 50 and above. "They really were hanging on every month, scraping by, barely able to make the rent,” said Dr. Kushel. “And sometime after the age of 50, something happened. And what was really interesting about these folks, as they could kind of pinpoint the moment when things fell apart.” she added.

Loneliness is often more common in older adults and those who face structural vulnerabilities, including those who experience homelessness. In the United States, 48% of single homeless adults are 50 and older. There is a limited information about loneliness among older adults who have experienced homelessness. This study used qualitative data collected as part of a longitudinal mixed-methods study, Health Outcomes of People Experiencing Homelessness in Older Middle Age (HOPE HOME). The study aimed to examine the intersection between social isolation, functional and cognitive impairment, and use of supportive services among a cohort of older adults experiencing homelessness in Oakland, California. Researchers found that homeless-experienced older adults with cognitive or functional impairments exhibited diverse loneliness experiences.

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."

A record number of seniors are burdened by high housing costs. A new report from University's Joint Center for Housing Studies sounds the alarm as the US population ages rapidly. The number of seniors who will qualify for federal housing subsidies will continue to grow. The report also notes that more people over the age of 50 are losing housing for the first time. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "Increasingly, the story of homelessness among adults is going to be older adults living in poverty, who are spending what should be their retirement years in the streets."

Among people experiencing homelessness in California, the group rising the fastest by proportion is older adults. A recent special report released by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative on older adult homelessness highlights their experiences during homelessness, and what impacted their return to permanent housing. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "The dramatic rise in homelessness among older adults has severe consequences for the health and safety of those who experience it and for our society at large. Now is the time for investments in real solutions to prevent and end homelessness among this vulnerable population."

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 homeless population in the United States is aging, however, there is limited studies on the neurologic etiologies of cognitive impairment in this population. Researchers observed a wide range of focal neurological deficits in the study participants, most notably deficits in cranial nerve function, motor function, coordination, and peripheral sensory functions. This study lays the foundation for the development of a longitudinal study of neurocognitive health among unhoused older adults in San Francisco.