IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v14y2017i8p928-d108788.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Personal Hygiene Practices among Urban Homeless Persons in Boston, MA

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica H. Leibler

    (Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St, T430W, Boston, MA 02118, USA)

  • Daniel D. Nguyen

    (Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St, T430W, Boston, MA 02118, USA)

  • Casey León

    (Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, 780 Albany St. Boston, MA 02118, USA)

  • Jessie M. Gaeta

    (Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, 780 Albany St. Boston, MA 02118, USA
    Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 E. Concord St. Boston, MA 02118, USA)

  • Debora Perez

    (Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany St, T430W, Boston, MA 02118, USA)

Abstract

Persons experiencing homelessness in the United States experience significant barriers to self-care and personal hygiene, including limited access to clean showers, laundry and hand washing facilities. While the obstacles to personal hygiene associated with homelessness may increase risk of infectious disease, hygiene-related behaviors among people experiencing homelessness has received limited attention. We conducted a cross-sectional study of individuals experiencing homelessness in Boston, MA ( n = 194) to identify hygiene-related self-care practices and risk factors for reduced hygiene in this population. Most participants (72%) reported taking a daily shower. More than 60% reported hand washing with soap five or more times each day, and use of hand sanitizer was widespread (89% reported using sanitizer in the last week). A majority (86%) used a laundromat or laundry machine to wash clothing, while 14% reported washing clothing in the sink. Heavy drinking, injection drug use, and sleeping outdoors were identified as significant risk factors for reduced hygiene practices. People experiencing homelessness who also engage in these activities may be among the most difficult to reach for intervention, yet targeted efforts may decrease illness risk associated with reduced hygiene. Housed friends and family play a critical role in assisting homeless individuals maintain hygiene by providing showers and laundry facilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica H. Leibler & Daniel D. Nguyen & Casey León & Jessie M. Gaeta & Debora Perez, 2017. "Personal Hygiene Practices among Urban Homeless Persons in Boston, MA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-9, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:8:p:928-:d:108788
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/8/928/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/8/928/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Donovan, S. & Shinseki, E.K., 2013. "Homelessness is a public health issue," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(S2), pages 180-180.
    2. Elise D Riley & Torsten B Neilands & Kelly Moore & Jennifer Cohen & David R Bangsberg & Diane Havlir, 2012. "Social, Structural and Behavioral Determinants of Overall Health Status in a Cohort of Homeless and Unstably Housed HIV-Infected Men," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(4), pages 1-7, April.
    3. Bharel, M., 2016. "Emergency Care for Homeless Patients: A Window into the Health Needs of Vulnerable Populations," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(5), pages 784-785.
    4. Duncan Mara & Jon Lane & Beth Scott & David Trouba, 2010. "Sanitation and Health," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(11), pages 1-7, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mary-Catherine Anderson & Ashley Hazel & Jessica M. Perkins & Zack W. Almquist, 2021. "The Ecology of Unsheltered Homelessness: Environmental and Social-Network Predictors of Well-Being among an Unsheltered Homeless Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-22, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Espinoza-Delgado, José & Silber, Jacques, 2018. "Multi-dimensional poverty among adults in Central America and gender differences in the three I’s of poverty: Applying inequality sensitive poverty measures with ordinal variables," MPRA Paper 88750, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Barrington, D.J. & Sridharan, S. & Shields, K.F. & Saunders, S.G. & Souter, R.T. & Bartram, J., 2017. "Sanitation marketing: A systematic review and theoretical critique using the capability approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 128-134.
    3. María Laura Alzúa & Habiba Djebbari & Amy J. Pickering, 2020. "A Community-Based Program Promotes Sanitation," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(2), pages 357-390.
    4. Mitsunori Odagiri & Zainal Muhammad & Aidan A. Cronin & Michael E. Gnilo & Aldy K. Mardikanto & Khaerul Umam & Yameha T. Asamou, 2017. "Enabling Factors for Sustaining Open Defecation-Free Communities in Rural Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-20, December.
    5. McGranahan, Gordon, 2015. "Realizing the Right to Sanitation in Deprived Urban Communities: Meeting the Challenges of Collective Action, Coproduction, Affordability, and Housing Tenure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 242-253.
    6. Espinoza-Delgado, José & Klasen, Stephan, 2018. "Gender and multidimensional poverty in Nicaragua: An individual based approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 466-491.
    7. Simona-Roxana Ulman & Costica Mihai & Cristina Cautisanu, 2020. "Peculiarities of the Relation between Human and Environmental Wellbeing in Different Stages of National Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-26, October.
    8. Curran, Franziska & Smart, Simon & Lacey, Justine & Greig, Chris & Lant, Paul, 2018. "Learning from experience in the water sector to improve access to energy services," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 41-50.
    9. Bridgman, Grace & von Fintel, Dieter, 2022. "Stunting, double orphanhood and unequal access to public services in democratic South Africa," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    10. Sri Irianti & Puguh Prasetyoputra, 2021. "Rural–Urban Disparities in Access to Improved Sanitation in Indonesia: A Decomposition Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    11. Scheierling, S. M., 2010. "Improving wastewater use in agriculture: an emerging priority," IWMI Working Papers H043153, International Water Management Institute.
    12. Vincent A. Fusaro & Helen G. Levy & H. Luke Shaefer, 2018. "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Lifetime Prevalence of Homelessness in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2119-2128, December.
    13. Patil, Sumeet R. & Arnold, Benjamin F. & Salvatore, Alicia & Briceno, Bertha & Colford, Jr., John M. & Gertler, Paul J., 2013. "A randomized, controlled study of a rural sanitation behavior change program in Madhya Pradesh, India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6702, The World Bank.
    14. Marisha Lamond & Bhim Adhikari, 2020. "Assessing the Sustainability of Sanitation Systems in Peri-Urban Areas: Insights from Nepal," Journal of Development Innovations, KarmaQuest International, vol. 4(2), pages 43-62, December.
    15. Shoshana Y Kahana & Richard A Jenkins & Douglas Bruce & Maria I Fernandez & Lisa B Hightow-Weidman & Jose A Bauermeister & Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions, 2016. "Structural Determinants of Antiretroviral Therapy Use, HIV Care Attendance, and Viral Suppression among Adolescents and Young Adults Living with HIV," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, April.
    16. Mobarak, Ahmed & Levinsohn, James & Guiteras, Raymond, 2019. "Demand Estimation with Strategic Complementarities: Sanitation in Bangladesh," CEPR Discussion Papers 13498, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. George Lutterodt & Jack Van de Vossenberg & Yvonne Hoiting & Alimamy K. Kamara & Sampson Oduro-Kwarteng & Jan Willem A. Foppen, 2018. "Microbial Groundwater Quality Status of Hand-Dug Wells and Boreholes in the Dodowa Area of Ghana," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-12, April.
    18. Laura B. Nolan, 2016. "Rural–Urban Child Height for Age Trajectories and Their Heterogeneous Determinants in Four Developing Countries," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(5), pages 599-629, October.
    19. Katrina Milaney & Nicole Williams & Daniel J. Dutton, 2018. "Falling Through the Cracks: How the Community-Based Approach Has Failed Calgary’s Chronically Homeless," SPP Research Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 11(9), February.
    20. Wang, Dongqin & Shen, Yanni, 2022. "Sanitation and work time: Evidence from the toilet revolution in rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:8:p:928-:d:108788. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.