Self-perceived health problems and unmet care needs of homeless people in the Netherlands : the need for pro-active integrated care

Abstract

Homeless people suffer from bad health and encounter barriers in accessing services, and live in difficult social circumstances. However, no insight exists in how homeless people in the Netherlands themselves experience their health and unmet care needs in relation to their social Marieke Verheul MSc MD Department of Primary and Community Care Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands Igor van Laere PhD MD Netherlands Streetdoctors Group, the Netherlands 22 Journal of Social Intervention: Theory and Practice – 2020 – Volume 29, Issue 1 Self-perceived health problems and unmet care needs of homeless people in the Netherlands circumstances. In order to tailor medical and other services to their needs, this study aims to gain insight into the self-perceived health problems, and unmet care needs in relation to the social circumstances of homeless people in the Netherlands.

Keywords

• homelessness, patient perspectives, access to health care, primary health care, social problems