Homelessness In Birmingham Essay

The Ethical Perspective on Homelessness in Birmingham, Alabama
Word Count: 1092

Introduction
Homelessness is an ongoing issue worldwide that countries around the world are facing. Homelessness in Birmingham, Alabama is a major city that has an estimated homeless population of 950 as stated by (Visram, 2023). Although the city has a vast area of beautiful buildings and bright lights, people ignore parts of the city that are riddled with poverty and homelessness. People will camp under bridges for safety, but not much is done to help them. Homelessness is not an invisible issue though, but it has been ignored and little has been done to address it. The issue of homelessness is complex because of the multiple factors that

Usually, homeless people are exposed to diseases and unsanitary conditions, and being unable to find healthcare makes their situations worse. Illnesses are not the only medical concern though, mental health issues and addictions are prominent in the homeless community. Authors writing for the Department of Health Sciences,(Omerov et al., 2020) conducted a study that surveyed homeless people and asked what they wanted out of healthcare; many said they wanted local clinics, friendly workers, and basic supplies. Homeless people in the study felt that their treatment was not up to standards and that the doctors and nurses were not welcoming. Some solutions for those problems brought up by graduates from Dell Medical School (Ramirez et al., 2022) include healthcare providers showing more compassion for their patients and getting social services involved to get help for the homeless. (Montgomery et al., 2016),Doctors studying health have found a correlation between unsheltered homelessness and premature death. They have found that homeless people who have mental illnesses will overuse substances which usually leads to overdoses. Although it is simple to assume that providing better healthcare and shelter for the homeless would solve the problem, there are limitations to these solutions. The limitations of these solutions are funding and finding people to

(2022, June 8). When the World Games come to Birmingham, where will the city's homeless residents go? CBS 42. https://www.cbs42.com/regional/during-the-world-games-birmingham-will-displace-some-residents-facing-homelessness-where-will-they-go/
Hedgepeth, L. (2022, October 18). Before the Freeze: Residents facing homelessness discuss Birmingham's warming center policies. CBS 42. https://www.cbs42.com/digital-exclusive/before-the-freeze/
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Montgomery, A. E., Szymkowiak, D., Marcus, J., Howard, P., & Culhane, D. P. (2016). Homelessness, unsheltered status, and risk factors for mortality: findings from the 100 000 homes campaign. Public Health Reports, 131(6), 765-772.
Omerov, P., Craftman, Å. G., Mattsson, E., & Klarare, A. (2020). Homeless persons' experiences of health‐and social care: A systematic integrative review. Health & social care in the community, 28(1), 1-11.
Ramirez, J., Petruzzi, L. J., Mercer, T., Gulbas, L. E., Sebastian, K. R., & Jacobs, E. A. (2022). Understanding the primary health care experiences of individuals who are homeless in non-traditional clinic settings. BMC primary care, 23(1),