Exploring Emergency Department Utilization Trends Amongst Housed and Underhoused Individuals in Windsor, Ontario

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Exploring Emergency Department Utilization Trends Amongst Housed and Underhoused Individuals in Windsor, Ontario

Exploring Emergency Department Utilization Trends Amongst Housed and Underhoused Individuals in Windsor, Ontario

Kim Nguyen & Temitope Esther Olayemi Akintola 
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry

FUNDER: Schulich-UWindsor Opportunities for Research Excellence Program (SWORP)

GRANT DURATION: 2024-2025

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Homelessness is characterized by unstable living conditions and is a multifaceted social issue that has profound impacts on the health and well-being of patients. Oftentimes, emergency room departments (ED) serve as a critical point of access to healthcare for individuals experiencing homelessness and research consistently demonstrates that unhoused individuals have disproportionately high rates of ED utilization. The Windsor Shelter Health (WSH) is an initiative composed of a multi-disciplinary team that seeks to improve the health, social stability, and quality of life of local shelter populations by integrating and leveraging current collaborative outreach activities happening at area shelters and expanding shelter services to include medical care onsite. This project seeks to explore ED utilization trends among housed and unhoused individuals in Windsor, Essex via a retrospective chart review of Windsor Regional Hospital. Specifically, Kim Nguyen and Temitope Akintola, will be responsible for categorizing ED reasons for visit and final diagnoses and developing data analysis plans to compare and study ED visits by both unhoused and housed patients. Additionally, they will be identifying areas where WSH can be involved to reduce the risk of future follow-up visits to the ED or re-admission to acute care by examining preventable ED visits by unhoused individuals. Outcomes for this project are evaluating health care utilization data to establish a baseline database to compare future health care utilization data, identify patterns of use, and identify research priorities.

This project aims to fill a critical gap in our understanding of the healthcare needs and ED utilization patterns of unhoused individuals in Windsor, Ontario. By examining ED visit data and synthesizing key insights, we aim to identify common indications for ED visits,patterns of healthcare utilization, and potential disparities in care between housed and unhoused individuals. The results of this projectwill serve as a baseline for developing targeted programs to effectively support and improve health care access of unhoused individuals.

CO-INVESTIGATORS

University of Windsor

  • Dr. Jennifer Bondy
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