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. 2021 Aug;25(8):2644-2656.
doi: 10.1007/s10461-021-03225-9. Epub 2021 Mar 20.

Single Room Occupancy Residence: Processes Linking Housing to Not Engaging in HIV Outpatient Care

Helen-Maria Lekas  1   2 , Crystal Lewis  3   4 , Sara Lunden  5 , Susan Aileen Olender  6 , Lisa Rosen-Metsch  7
Affiliations

Single Room Occupancy Residence: Processes Linking Housing to Not Engaging in HIV Outpatient Care

Helen-Maria Lekas et al. AIDS Behav. 2021 Aug.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Homelessness and housing instability undermine engagement in medical care, adherence to treatment and health among persons with HIV/AIDS. However, the processes by which unstable and unsafe housing result in adverse health outcomes remain understudied and are the focus of this manuscript. From 2012 to 2014, we conducted qualitative interviews among inpatients with HIV disengaged from outpatient care (n = 120). We analyzed the content of the interviews with participants who reported a single room occupancy (SRO) residence (n = 44), guided by the Health Lifestyle Theory. Although SROs emerged as residences that were unhygienic and conducive to drug use and violence, participants remained in the SRO system for long periods of time. This generated experiences of living instability, insecurity and lack of control that reinforced a set of tendencies (habitus) and behaviors antithetical to adhering to medical care. We called for research and interventions to transform SROs into housing protective of its residents' health and wellbeing.

La indigencia y la inestabilidad de vivienda reducen la participación en la atención médica, la adherencia al tratamiento y la salud de las personas viviendo con VIH/SIDA. Sin embargo, los procesos mediante los cuales la vivienda inestable e insegura conllevan a resultados adversos de salud permanecen poco estudiados y son el enfoque de este manuscrito. En el 2012–2014, llevamos a cabo entrevistas cualitativas con pacientes hospitalizados con VIH desconectados de servicios de atención ambulatoria (n = 120). Analizamos el contenido de las entrevistas (n = 44) con participantes que residían en un programa de ocupación de habitación individual (SRO, por sus siglas en inglés), guiados por la Teoría del Estilo de Vida Saludable. Aunque el programa de ocupación de habitación individual surgió en las entrevistas como residencias antihigiénicas y propicias para el uso de drogas y la violencia, los participantes se mantuvieron en el programa de ocupación de habitación individual por largo tiempo. Esto generó experiencias de inestabilidad en la vivienda, inseguridad y falta de control que reforzó tendencias (habitus) y comportamientos antitéticos a adherirse a la atención médica. Pedimos investigaciones e intervenciones para transformar los programas de ocupación de habitación individual en viviendas que protejan la salud y el bienestar de sus residentes.

Keywords: Drug use; HIV inpatients; Health habitus; Housing instability; Single room occupancy (SRO); Violence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest None of the Authors have any conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Theory of Health Lifestyle (Based on Cockerham [23])
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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