In our first week in Italy, I immediately noticed homeless individuals on the streets asking for money, similar to home. There was something different, though; I did not get the same feeling as I do at home. These individuals look different. There is a balance between the amount of homeless men and women asking for money, whereas at home, I almost never see any women. The clothing is also different. Generally, I am used to seeing beat-up, dirty rags. Here, there has been a little more cleanliness, in a sense.
Within Italy, there is a difference with how each individual asks for money, as well. Some have small signs, most likely explaining their situation; I am unable to read Italian, so I can only assume. Some simply sit and have their hat in hand, so you can drop money in. Most have cups for the money. A few stand and pace a little bit, continuously saying, “Va.” Some are disabled and walk around with a crutch or cane. Some say nothing and do not prompt you. Some lay down in a praying position, never moving.
There is a
particular woman I pass everyday near my apartment. She is older and very
sweet-looking. She has decent attire, and wears a head scarf. She also has a
small sign in Italian and a cup with a little bit of change in it. With her
head down, she sits silently. I have dropped spare change in her cup a few
times, and she turns towards me with her face lit up slightly, and says “grazie” (thank you) multiple times. One
time, I had gotten up the nerve to ask her if she spoke English. I wanted to
ask her about her situation, why she was there, and how long she had been
asking for money. My intentions were to find out about her perceptions and
feelings. Unfortunately, though, she did not speak any English. I thanked her
and moved on.
These experiences led me to ask many questions, so I did some research to understand the state of homelessness in Italy, particularly regarding their healthcare.
In Italy, it is estimated that 48,000 people were homeless as of 2014, and over half of the people sleeping in homeless shelters were immigrants (Homeless World Cup). According to a research article by Fazel, Geddes, and Kushel (2014), reasons for being homeless may vary, but usually are related to commonalities, such as growing up poor, family issues, (untreated) mental health problems, and substance abuse. There is also, not surprisingly, a higher death rate among the homeless, usually because of injuries, substance abuse, diseases, and mental health problems (Fazel, Geddes, & Kushel, 2014). They also pointed out that health services utilization and treatment is much lower within this population, although homeless people tend to use emergency services more than non-homeless people. Even though Italy has the public healthcare system, it seems to be underused or not used at all by the homeless.
There are resources available for the homeless, although some argue these may not be adequate. I found only a small amount of information: homeless shelters were briefly mentioned, but there was no clear indication of the amount or type of resources available. Lack of resources may be a problem for the country in total. Fazel et al. (2014) suggested better focused programs and more state-wide services that target the homeless population specifically to improve the outcomes of these individuals as a whole.
As some of my questions were answered by the internet, others were not. One-on-one interviews and data collection would be more helpful for knowing personal stories and reasoning, and to collect more information in general. Perhaps this will be conducted in Italy one day. For now, I will continue to wonder.
Within Italy, there is a difference with how each individual asks for money, as well. Some have small signs, most likely explaining their situation; I am unable to read Italian, so I can only assume. Some simply sit and have their hat in hand, so you can drop money in. Most have cups for the money. A few stand and pace a little bit, continuously saying, “Va.” Some are disabled and walk around with a crutch or cane. Some say nothing and do not prompt you. Some lay down in a praying position, never moving.
These experiences led me to ask many questions, so I did some research to understand the state of homelessness in Italy, particularly regarding their healthcare.
In Italy, it is estimated that 48,000 people were homeless as of 2014, and over half of the people sleeping in homeless shelters were immigrants (Homeless World Cup). According to a research article by Fazel, Geddes, and Kushel (2014), reasons for being homeless may vary, but usually are related to commonalities, such as growing up poor, family issues, (untreated) mental health problems, and substance abuse. There is also, not surprisingly, a higher death rate among the homeless, usually because of injuries, substance abuse, diseases, and mental health problems (Fazel, Geddes, & Kushel, 2014). They also pointed out that health services utilization and treatment is much lower within this population, although homeless people tend to use emergency services more than non-homeless people. Even though Italy has the public healthcare system, it seems to be underused or not used at all by the homeless.
There are resources available for the homeless, although some argue these may not be adequate. I found only a small amount of information: homeless shelters were briefly mentioned, but there was no clear indication of the amount or type of resources available. Lack of resources may be a problem for the country in total. Fazel et al. (2014) suggested better focused programs and more state-wide services that target the homeless population specifically to improve the outcomes of these individuals as a whole.
As some of my questions were answered by the internet, others were not. One-on-one interviews and data collection would be more helpful for knowing personal stories and reasoning, and to collect more information in general. Perhaps this will be conducted in Italy one day. For now, I will continue to wonder.
This post was written by
Alyssa Renee Miller from Lafayette, Indiana. She is a senior studying
Developmental and Family Science, with concentrations in both Child Development
and Family and Community Health. Her minors are Law and Society and Women’s
Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Fazel, S., Geddes, J. R., & Kushel, M.
(2014). The health of homeless people in high-income countries: Descriptive
epidemiology, health consequences, and clinical and policy recommendations.
The Lancet, 384(9953), 1529-40.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61132-6
Homeless World
Cup. National partner profile: Italy. Retrieved from
https://www.homelessworldcup.org/partner/italy/
Homelessness; the reasons why as well the care of, must be a very complicated and sad issue.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's definitely was I was getting while researching online. There's many parts to it, and it can vary so much between each individual. I agree that it is very sad, but I think it can be less sad when it becomes less of a problem. To do this, I think we need to research more and go in-depth, and then come up with programs and such to help this population!
Delete