Treatment and Recommendations for Homeless Patients

Practice Adaptations

ADAPTED CLINICAL GUIDELINES

Adapting Your Practice: Treatment and Recommendations for Homeless Patients [http://www.nhchc.org/publications.html#homeless-specific]. Standard clinical practice guidelines often fail to address the special challenges faced by homeless patients that may limit their ability to adhere to a plan of care. To fill this gap, the HCH Clinicians’ Network developed a series of adapted clinical guidelines covering:

1. Asthma
http://www.nhchc.org/Publications/Asthma2008.pdf

2. Cardiovascular Diseases: Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia & Heart Failure
http://www.nhchc.org/clinical/2.28.04CVDguide.pdf

3. Chlamydial or Gonococcal Infections
http://www.nhchc.org/Publications/STI123108.pdf

4. Diabetes Mellitus
http://www.nhchc.org/Publications/clinicalguidelinesDM2007.pdf

5. General Recommendations for the Care of Homeless Patients
http://www.nhchc.org/Publications/6.1.04GenHomelessRecsFINAL.pdf

6. HIV/AIDS
http://www.nhchc.org/HIVguide2008.pdf

7. Otitis Media
http://www.nhchc.org/Publications/OtitisMedia2008.pdf

8. Reproductive Health Care
http://www.nhchc.org/Publications/ReproductiveHealth2008.pdf

These homeless-specific practice recommendations may be downloaded free from this website or ordered using our Publications Order Form.

The Homeless in America: Adapting Your Practice [http://www.aafp.org/afp/2006/1001/p1132.html]by Susan L. Montauk, MD, appears in the October 2006 issue of American Family Physician [http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/journals/afp.html]along with a related editorial by Bechara Choucair, MD. The article defines homelessness, includes key recommendations for practice, examines determinants of general care adherence in the homeless and offers potential enhancements, and lists resources for caring for homeless individuals and families. The piece references the Network's eight guidelines listed above and sites more recent literature when available. The online version includes supplemental content and links to the editorial and a PDF version of the article for download. Dr. Montauk is a staff physician on the Cincinnati Health Care for the Homeless Mobile Van.

Source: Am Fam Physician 2006;74:1132-8. Copyright © 2006 American Academy of Family Physicians
http://www.nhchc.org/practiceadaptations.html