Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Homelessness and Health
Each night, hundreds of thousands of people experience homelessness in the United States. Some of these people experience chronic homelessness, while others have temporarily lost their shelter. The reasons why they are homelessness are complex. They can include a combination of factors such as:
- Poverty
- Unemployment
- Lack of affordable housing
- Mental and substance use disorders
- Trauma and violence
- Intimate partner violence
- Justice-system involvement
- Sudden serious illness
- Divorce
- Death of a partner or parent
- Disabilities
Poor health can contribute to homelessness. And being homeless can contribute to poor health. Many of the problems that people experiencing homelessness face can make their health worse, including:
- Limited access to health care
- Problems getting enough food
- Trouble staying safe
- Violence
- Stress
- Unsanitary living conditions
- Exposure to severe weather
Some of the common health problems that people experiencing homelessness may have include:
- HIV
- Lung diseases, including bronchitis, tuberculosis, and pneumonia
- Malnutrition
- Mental health problems
- Substance use problems
- Wounds and skin infections
Many people experiencing homelessness are dealing with trauma. They may have been abused or assaulted. This includes children, who are at risk for emotional and behavioral problems.
Contact your local homelessness assistance agency to get the help you need, such as access to shelters, health centers, and free meals.
It sits within Social/Family Issues.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Homelessness and Health
41 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Housing Transitions QUERIVA Office of Research and Development
- QAIAx (AIhealth4U) - AI Public Health Central: Microcity-A (re Quantum AI Agency Aka AI City Hall Project, UPSTO App Nos. 64/074,526, 64/063,557, 63/903,181, 63/729,428Veterans Recovery Network Inc.
- The WARM Study is a Pilot Study That Aims to Investigate the Impact of Environmental Factors on Acute and Chronic Wounds, Mental Illness, and Social Factors Among People Experiencing Housing Emergencies in Augsburg.University Hospital Augsburg
- Experimental Trial of an Employment-Based Housing Program for Adults at Risk of HomelessnessThe University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
- Medical-legal Partnerships to Prevent Evictions and Homelessness Among VeteransVA Office of Research and Development
- Employing Peer Outreach and Whole Health in Recovery for Homeless-Experienced VeteransVA Office of Research and Development
Research already completed
- Interactive Care Coordination and Navigation:RCT To Assess the Impact of a mHealth Intervention for Homeless IndividualsLeticia R. Moczygemba
- Pilot Feasibility Trial of HEALthy Beginnings for Middle-Aged, and Older Homeless WomenUniversity of California, Los Angeles
- MISSION-CJ for Justice-Involved Homeless VeteransVA Office of Research and Development
- Uncontrolled Hypertension Among the HomelessGeorge Washington University
- Behavior Change Intervention for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Among People Experiencing HomelessnessKatherine Vickery
- Storytelling Through Music to Improve Well-being Among Homeless Service ProvidersUniversity of Texas at Austin
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Homelessness Assistance ProgramsDepartment of Housing and Urban Development
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: HomelessnessNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Ill-Housed Persons. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Homelessness and Health, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.