Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion

Ann Elizabeth Montgomery's and Melissa Dichter's collaborative research is on the relationship between disparities in housing stability and the medical, mental and behavioral health conditions among women Veterans.

At the HSR&D National Meeting on Partnerships for Research & Care of Women Veterans held in August 2014, Ann Elizabeth Montgomery, PhD, MPA, MSSW and Melissa Dichter, MSW, PhD presented their collaborative research on the relationship between disparities in housing stability and the medical, mental and behavioral health conditions among women Veterans.

During Fiscal Year 2013, VHA began asking all Veterans seeking outpatient care about their housing status.  The objective is to identify Veterans who are homeless or at risk and rapidly refer them for assistance. Compared with the general population, individuals experiencing homelessness have higher rates of medical and mental/behavioral health problems and an increased hazard of death.  In addition, women experiencing homelessness are at particularly high risk of poor health. 

This study explores the relationship between medical and mental/behavioral health conditions and disparities in housing stability among women Veterans.
There is a clear association between mental/behavioral health conditions and housing status; however, the relationship between medical conditions and housing status is more complex. The findings indicate that there is a significant—both clinically and statistically—association between health conditions and housing stability among women Veterans.

The study identified women Veterans who were accessing VHA healthcare services, were unknown by VA to be homeless or at-risk, were likely to have significant mental or behavioral health conditions, and may benefit from an intervention to prevent or end homelessness. VA-funded interventions to prevent and end homelessness among Veterans should increase outreach to women Veterans with mental/behavioral health diagnoses and attend to their particular needs.

Ann Elizabeth Montgomery, PhD, MPA, MSSW is a CHERP Core Investigator and Investigator with the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans (NCHAV), a key partner in the CHERP Center of Innovation (CHERP COIN).  She recently led a pilot study, Homelessness Risk Among Women Veterans:  Demographic, Clinical and Health Services Use Characteristics with CHERP collaborators Melissa Dichter, PhD, MSW, Said Ibrahim, MD, MPH, and Diane Richardson, PhD. Dr. Montgomery recently received a VA HSR&D Merit Review award, along with CHERP collaborators, to continue this work.

Melissa Dichter, MSW, PhD is a CHERP Core Investigator and CDA Awardee focusing on understanding and addressing veterans’ health and social service needs related to experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) and related social health conditions. Dr. Dichter is the Philadelphia Site Lead for the VA Women’s Health Practice Network and collaborates with other VA investigators as well as clinical and operations partners to improve health services for women veterans.