HOUSED Study

Principal Investigator: Harrison Alter, M.D., M.S.

The Levitt Center designed, executed and is now analyzing a study funded by the California Health Care Foundation known as Housing Opportunity and Urgency in Safety-net Emergency Departments (HOUSED). Phase 1 of the study is local to Highland Hospital, home base to the Levitt Center's investigators, and focuses on the temporal characteristics of ED visits by people facing housing challenges. The findings, yet to be published, may challenge the widespread belief that people who are homeless or unstably housed are more likely to use the ED at night as a de facto shelter, when instead they may be more likely to come during business hours, when they could also theoretically receive more support services. Phase 2 will focus more on more general targeted social needs screening in the ED, and Phase 3 will be combining data with other centers around the country using our instrument