A Vulnerable Population the Homeless Veterans
Patricia Dilbert
NUR/440
April 7, 2014
Deanna Radford, MSN, RN, CNE A Vulnerable Population the homeless Veterans In this presentation, we will explore a vulnerable population with the focus on the homeless veterans. According to Mckinney Act”(1987) A homeless person is one who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. One who has a primary nighttime residence that is a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter, a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or a public or private place not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. Vulnerable populations are often used to portray groups …show more content…

If they stay unemployed and unproductive for the rest of their lives, they shall not be able to raise funds for housing costs. Therefore, they shall also remain homeless for the rest of their lives. Health care plays a significant role in moving the homeless, especially veterans, off the streets.

The new veterans from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq will soon be the majority of veterans. With these new veterans, we will see many problems we saw during the Vietnam-era and they will be recurring in huge numbers. These needs will create a huge health care and financial burden for the government and the people of this nation. For this reason veteran groups have been pushing for the VA to do more; however, the government still expects charities to fill in the gaps. It is estimated that 30 to 40% of these veterans will develop problems with drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental-health problems (Wills, 2008). As the federal government develops the necessary services to care for our veterans these gaps, services, and assistance will have to be filled at the state and community level.

On a positive note, despite the negativities encircling the issue about homelessness, poverty, unemployment, etc. especially to the veteran population, there are still several organizations and groups sensitive to the growing needs of homeless veterans. The National Coalition for Homeless