Health and Mental Illness:
What is the impact of homelessness on people with HIV/AIDS?

Housing is healthcare.  Stable, affordable housing offers the best opportunity for persons living with HIV/AIDS to access drug therapies and treatments and supportive services that will enhance the quality of life for themselves and their families.  When people are housed, they can access and adhere to drug treatments and therapies and require fewer hospitalizations and less emergency room care.

Research shows that the receipt of housing assistance is linked to reduction of HIV risk
behaviors and positive change in medical outcomes. The data show a strong relationship between housing status and HIV risk and health outcomes, controlling for other client characteristics, health status, and service use variables.

These findings suggest that the condition of homelessness, and not simply traits of homeless individuals, influences risk behaviors and health service utilization. Housing affects an individual’s ability to avoid exposure to HIV; an HIV-positive individual’s ability to avoid exposing others to HIV; and the ability to access & adhere to care. To end the AIDS crisis, we need to move beyond a “risky person” paradigm to a consideration of risky contexts such as housing instability and other structural factors that impact HIV risk and health outcomes.

Source: National AIDS Housing Coaltion

Other questions & answers related to this topic:

Can permanent supportive housing be used to respond to the needs of homeless individuals with multiple problems and disabilities?