Socioeconomic Characteristics, Health Risk Factors and Alcohol Consumption among the Homeless in North-Eastern Part of Poland.

BACKGROUND: Homelessness is a form of social pathology, which is for various reasons undesirable and as far as possible limited by efforts such as programmes that assist in transitioning out of homelessness. Because, as time passes, the homeless population undergoes both quantitative and qualitative changes, the process of developing these programmes requires up-to-date information on the extent and profile of this phenomenon that takes into account the characteristics of a given country.

METHODS: A 12-month study of homeless individuals (ETHOS categories 1.1, 2.1 and 3.1) was conducted between December 2013 and November 2014 in Olsztyn, Poland. Demographic, sociological, psychological, and medical data were collected.

RESULTS: The study population comprised 98 homeless individuals. The average homeless individual in our study population was a single (93.88%), most commonly divorced (59.18%), alcohol-dependent (78.57%), smoking (84.69%), middle-aged (54.33 years, SD 9.70) male (92.86%) with a low level of education (10.19 years of completed education, SD 3.09). The individual was most commonly an unemployed person suffering profound privation, living off various types of benefits, and spending a significant proportion of his income on alcohol and cigarettes. The person often resigned from social welfare due to his alcohol dependence. Almost a third of the study population (32.65%) declared that they occasionally went hungry. The principal source of food were meals provided by welfare services (89.80%).

CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the design of the social welfare system for homeless people should always take into account issues related to alcohol dependence, and each homeless person should be evaluated for possible alcohol dependence. Institutionalised material support provided to homeless individuals should be organised in such a way as to minimise the risk of promoting alcohol and nicotine dependence.