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Development of a homelessness risk screening tool for emergency department patients

K.M. Doran, E. Johns, S. Zuiderveen, M. Shinn, K. Dinan, M. Schretzman, L. Gelberg, D. Culhane, D. Shelley, T. Mijanovich
Health Services Research

Objective To develop a screening tool to identify emergency department (ED) patients at risk of entering a homeless shelter, which could inform targeting of interventions to prevent future homelessness episodes. Data sources Linked data from (1) ED patient baseline questionnaires and (2) citywide administrative homeless shelter database. Study design Stakeholder-informed predictive modeling utilizing ED patient questionnaires linked with prospective shelter administrative data. The outcome was shelter entry documented in administrative data within 6 months following the baseline ED visit. Exposures were responses to questions on homelessness risk factors from baseline questionnaires. Data collection/extraction methods Research assistants completed questionnaires with randomly sampled ED patients who were medically stable, not in police/prison custody, and spoke English or Spanish. Questionnaires were linked to administrative data using deterministic and probabilistic matching. Principal findings Of 1993 ED patients who were not homeless at baseline, 5.6% entered a shelter in the next 6 months. A screening tool consisting of two measures of past shelter use and one of past criminal justice involvement had 83.0% sensitivity and 20.4% positive predictive value for future shelter entry. Conclusions Our study demonstrates the potential of using cross-sector data to improve hospital initiatives to address patients' social needs.

Doran KM, Johns E, Zuiderveen S, et al. Development of a homelessness risk screening tool for emergency department patients. Health Services Research. 2022;57(2):285-293. DOI:10.1111/1475-6773.13886. PMID: 34608999

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Peer Reviewed Research
Screening research
Yes
Study design
Other Study Design