Homeless Persons' Interest in Basic and Health Services: The Role of Absolute, Relative, and Repressed Needs

Abstract

Describes the interest of about 300 homeless persons in housing, economic, and health-related services based on intake interview data collected by a large urban shelter for single adults. Shelter guests were most interested in assistance with housing, job, and economic benefits, rather than health services. Three explanations of variation in service interests were identified: the "absolute needs" (ABNs) explanation expects service interests to vary directly with service needs, the "repressed needs" explanation expects service interests to vary inversely with alcoholism and mental illness, while the "relative needs" explanation expects interest in health-related services to be related to health needs, but only after basic needs are satisfied. The ABNs explanation received the strongest support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)