About a million and half Americans are homeless yearly, at imminent risk or lacking a stable and adequate nighttime residence.
The homeless population is aging faster than the rest of Americans. A third of those homeless are 50 years or older, and could be AARP members if they had stable addresses.
A recent American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry found that the Arkansas older adult homeless population has been significantly increasing. The Little Rock homeless were more likely to have serious physical health conditions in 2013 when compared with a sample from an earlier year.
Homelessness in Arkansas is an increasing problem for many adults, including older adults. This is of concern no matter the weather, but especially so during our recent winter.
Chekuri, L. Turturro, C.L, Lewallen, J.P. & Mittal D. Changing Demographic Trends in Elderly Homeless: Findings in a Homeless Sample from Little Rock. (2014). AAGP Annual Meeting. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 22:3, Supplement. http://www.ajgponline.org/article/S1064-7481(13)00548-4/pdf
Nagourney, A. Old and Graying on the Streets. New York Times (2016) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/31/us/americas-aging-homeless-old-and-on-the-street.html?_r=1
This post originally aired on KUAR in February 2018.