Mentally ill homeless persons

Homelessness is a social problem but it is frequently associated with other problems connected with health. Abuse of illegal and legal intoxicants and severe mental illness among homeless persons make it increasingly difficult to provide support and help for homeless persons solely by means of social measures. Mentally ill homeless individuals are frequently well known both by the social authorities and by the staff of psychiatric hospitals. They have frequently been offered the traditional forms of help and therapeutic measures traditionally employed without this resulting in "cure and stability" and they are frequently left to their own devices. Many of the mentally ill homeless persons have some form of addiction which renders their existence more difficult. Hostels and homes for care do not traditionally offer homes for this type of clientele but this may prove necessary. It will be necessary to provide new measures, e.g. domiciliary forms for this group but without a multidisciplinary therapeutic team and without cooperation between the social services and the health services this can scarcely prove successful.