Out of the trenches; prevalence of Australian veterans among the homeless population and the implications for public health
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of Australian Defence Force veterans among people sleeping rough and explore their health and social needs relative to non-veteran rough sleepers. METHOD: Analysis of responses to the Vulnerability Index - Service Prioritisation Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT) collected from 8,027 rough sleepers across five Australian States from 2010-2017. RESULTS: Veterans were found to comprise 5.6% of people sleeping rough in Australia, with veterans reporting having spent an average of 6.3 years on the street or in emergency accommodation (compared with an average of five years for their non-veterans counterparts). Veterans had a higher prevalence of self-reported physical health, mental health and social issues compared with non-veteran rough sleepers. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study of its kind to elucidate the presence of Australian veterans among people sleeping rough. That they are likely to have spent more years on the street, and have a higher prevalence of health and social issues, highlights the imperative for earlier intervention and prevention of veteran homelessness itself, and its health impacts. IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: Veteran homelessness has been comparatively hidden in Australia compared to other countries, and consequently the myriad of health, psychosocial and adjustment issues faced by homeless veterans has also been hidden. With heightened attention on veteran suicide and self-harm, earlier intervention to prevent veterans becoming homeless constitutes sound public health prevention and mental health policy.
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Difficulties with adjustment and reintegration are associated with poorer outcomes in mental health, social and family relationships, employment and financial security, physical health, and stable housing.
“Difficulties with adjustment and reintegration are associated with poorer outcomes in mental health [5], social and family relationships [1, 9–11], employment and financial security [1,2,12), physical health [12] and stable housing [13, 14].”
From Feasibility, acceptability, and initial outcomes of a psychological adjustment and reintegration program for transitioned military veterans (2024) · cites this paper as [14]
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- Authors
- Wood, L., Flatau, P., Seivwright, A., & Wood, N.
- Affiliations
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Cancer Council Western Australia (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Wood, Lisa
- Venue
- Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-04
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 134-141
- ISSN
- 1326-0200 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3208179880
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 1.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Homelessness and Social Issues
- Social Sciences › Education › Education and Military Integration
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Urban and Rural Development Challenges
- Keywords
- veteran homelessness, homeless veterans, rough sleepers, mental health, physical health, social needs, emergency housing, vulnerability index, public health prevention, veteran suicide, self-harm
- MeSH terms
- Australia, Ill-Housed Persons, Humans, Public Health, United States, Veterans, Prevalence
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