Despite their initial concern about UTC’s potential negative effects on the recipients, the researchers found promising results. The study in Kenya found that the assisted households increased their consumption and savings. While the families spent more for their food and food security, they did not incur any expenses on unnecessary goods or services. This study shows that a proper approach to poverty could effectively eliminate this factor as part of a solution to homelessness. Providing access to education and employment to low-income families and individuals must also be considered to combat poverty and preventing homelessness. Physical and mental health
It is not surprising that many researchers have identified that “Homelessness is closely connected to decline in physical and mental health”. Most people who use homeless shelters on a frequent basis face multiple disadvantages, such as increased prevalence of physical and mental health problems, disabilities, addiction, poverty, and discrimination. Studies have shown that homeless people have a high level of morbidity and mortality. Moreover, they suffer from a wide range of health problems, including contracting sever infectious diseases (such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs, and STDs), addictions, and mental illnesses. Notably, the lack of access to healthcare for homeless people adversely affects the healthcare system as well. Homeless people often obtain their care in emergency departments, partly due to their lack of adequate health insurance, especially for medications. Statistics demonstrate that they are admitted to hospital five times more than the public and stay under care much longer.
There has been ongoing concern and studies about the health and wellness of the older homeless population, typically ages 50 to 64 and older, as to whether they are significantly more sickly than their younger counterparts, and if they are under-served.A 2011 study led by Dr. Rebecca T. Brown in Boston, conducted by the Institute for Aging Research (an affiliate of Harvard Medical School), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program found the elderly homeless population had "higher rates of geriatric syndromes, including functional decline, falls, frailty, and depression than seniors in the general population, and that many of these conditions may be easily treated if detected". The report was published in the Journal of Geriatric Internal Medicine. There are government avenues which provide resources for the development of healthcare for homeless people. In the United States, the Bureau of Primary Health Care has a program that provides grants to fund the delivery of healthcare to homeless people. According to 2011 UDS, data community health centers were able to provide service to 1,087,431 homeless individuals. There are also many nonprofit and religious organizations which provide healthcare services to homeless people. These organizations help meet the large need which exists for expanding healthcare for homeless people. There have been significant numbers of unsheltered persons dying of hypothermia, adding impetus to the trend of establishing warming centers, as well as extending enumeration surveys with vulnerability indexes.