Re: LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA: HOMELESSNESS CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES MORTALITY STUDY

[California voted for it]

On 30 Dec 2023, Jonathan Harold Esmond Vere Harmsworth
<patr...@protonmail.com> posted some
news:umpnj0$1c1ic$1...@dont-email.me:

> Gavin Newsom, $68 billion dollar deficit because of his fucked up
> COVID policies.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health shows
that deaths among people experiencing homelessness (PEH) in Los Angeles
County almost doubled from 2015 to 2019, increasing from 741 to 1,267 over
the course of 5 years.

The study used Point-in-Time homeless counts (extremely flawed data, but
all the public information that advocates have available) to obtain data
on changes in numbers of PEH in the County, as well as additional
demographic surveys to have a breakdown based on age, gender, and
race/ethnicity. They then used medical examiner data in order to estimate
general mortality trends among PEH as well as cause-specific mortality
trends compared to the general LA County population.

Based on this data, the study found PEH had an almost 3 times higher risk
of mortality compared to the general population of LA County. This
disparity was even higher when looking at specific causes of death: PEH
were 35 times more likely to die of drug overdoses; 15.3 times more likely
to die of traffic injury; 14.3 times more likely to die of homicide, and
7.7 times more likely to die of suicide. Additionally, while the study
found that White PEH had a higher mortality rate than Black PEH, they also
stated that Black people accounted for 34% of homeless compared to 9% of
the general population. The authors suggest that both the over-
representation of Black people among PEH and their lower mortality rate
compared to White PEH were likely a result of racism and discrimination –
Black PEH were more likely to become homeless due to socioeconomic
conditions tied to systemic racism while White PEH were more likely to
accumulate a combination of mental, behavioral, and physical conditions
over time before becoming homeless.

Having a better understanding of mortality trends among PEH is crucial for
governments to create and implement more effective public health policies
that address the dangers of homelessness. LA County used the results of
this study to inform the establishment of a homeless mortality prevention
initiative. The study demonstrated that drug overdoses increased by 69%
from 2015-2019, becoming the leading cause of death in 2017. Given the
increased risk of drug overdoses, the initiative decided to prioritize
policies that improved substance use disorder services and increased
interim and permanent housing options for people receiving treatment for
substance use disorder.

If governments want their policies to truly address the needs of PEH in
their community and to prevent deaths, they must have accurate data and
knowledge of the dangers PEH face as a result of homelessness.
Homelessness is a matter of life or death; this study drives home the
serious health impacts homelessness has on PEH and the urgency for
governments to take immediate action to end homelessness.

https://nationalhomeless.org/los-angeles-california-homelessness-capital-
of-the-united-states-mortality-study/