Character Strengths, Physical, and Mental Health Status of the Homeless in Self-reliance Support Facilities / 정신간호학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate character strengths, physical and mental health status of the homeless. METHODS: Data were collected from November 2014 to March 2016 through the VIA-IS questionnaires and the DESC vulnerability assessment tool. The participants were 120 adultmen living in two self-reliance support facilities for homeless people, located in S city, Korea. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA with SPSS/WIN 23.0 program. RESULTS: Physical health status of the participants was as following ‘chronicmedical conditions that were not well-managed or significant physical impairment’ 11.7%, and ‘stable significant medical or physical issues, or chronic medical conditions that were being managed’ 46.7%. The mental health status included mild 23.3%,moderate 11.7%, and seriousmental health issues 4.2%. There were no significant differences in physical health status by signature character groups, while mental health status (F=2.46, p=.038) of the courage group was worse than that of the temperance group. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate thatmental health status of homeless people should bemanagedmore appropriately and effective nursing interventions need to be developed using their signature character. However, further research about physical health status by signature character of the homeless is needed.