The study's authors say the report contradicts a long-held assumption by many that the two groups are distinct populations with different levels of needs.
"For the first time in Canada, we have the numbers to show that people who are vulnerably housed face the same severe health problems — and danger of assault — as people who are homeless," said Stephen Hwang, a Toronto medical doctor and the lead researcher.
The numbers of people experiencing the devastating health outcomes associated with inadequate housing could be "staggering" and go far beyond previous estimates based on shelter and street counts, the study says.
While there are about 17,000 shelter beds available on a regular basis across Canada, almost 400,000 people are vulnerably housed at any one time, the study says, citing figures from the 2006 census' housing series.
"This means that for each person who is homeless in Canada, there are 23 more people living with housing vulnerability, paying more than half their monthly income for rent, and living with substantial risk of becoming homeless," Hwang said.
The study, conducted by an alliance of researcher partners, including universities in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, defines the homeless as people who are couch surfing, living in shelters, on the street or some other place not meant for human habitation. People who had moved at least twice or been homeless in the previous year were defined as vulnerably housed.
People who don't have a healthy place to live, regardless of whether they are homeless or in substandard housing, the study says, are at high risk of experiencing hunger, physical and mental health problems and hospitalization. They also have problems accessing needed health care.
The study — known as the Health and Housing Transition Study — is tracking the health and housing status of 1,200 single adults in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa over a two-year period. Researchers recruited 200 vulnerably housed and 200 homeless adults in each city from shelters, meal programs, single room occupancy hotels and rooming houses.
The study released Friday is based on the first round of interviews after year one.
GlobalNews
