For my final project, I did research on the disproportionate impact of Tuberculosis (TB) Infection among Unhoused Populations in the United States.
I liked how this class exposed me to many different infectious diseases. I got to learn about the pathology behind each one, and found that there is immense diversity among infectious diseases; yet they are all kind of similar.
What does "Unhoused" mean?
There is a lot of diversity among the Unhoused population. This can be mean people moving between homes, couch surfing, living in their cars, living in the shelters, and living on the streets. There can also be different terminology to address the unhoused populations: homeless, people experiencing homelessness, houselessness, unhoused. Some terms may seem de-personalizing, I would say ask someone who is experiencing homelessness. What do they prefer? This will vary.
So why am I talking about the unhoused populations?
Among the Unhoused population in the United States, they experience a 10-fold increase in worse health TB outcomes, and higher mortality rates. Due to the lack of affordability in housing, people of low socioeconomic status are deprived of the adequate resources to achieve health literacy, prevent adverse health outcomes, and promote their own health. This is a structural issue.
How are they affected more?
See my presentation below.
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