As the homelessness 'crisis' in the United States enters a third decade, few are as adversely affected as persons with serious mental illness. Despite recent evidence favoring a 'housing first' approach, the dominant 'treatment first' approach persists in which individuals must climb a ladder of...

Despite dramatic increases in use of hospital emergency rooms (ERs) since the 1950s, an estimated 85% of ER visits are made for non-life-threatening reasons. Using a modified version of the Andersen and Newman model of health care utilization, this paper reviews the research literature on ER use...

Employing data from a 1987 shelter survey of 1260 homeless adults in New York City, multivariate models of emergency room (ER) use are developed which include an array of risk factors for visiting a hospital ER including health and mental health problems, victimization and injuries. The study's...