Homeless women in Los Angeles face significantly lower physical and mental health than sheltered women due to factors including lack of insurance, transportation, and access to basic gynecological and prenatal care. According to an estimate, 43,695 city residents were homeless at the time of an annual count in February, with less than half—16,723—living in shelters. Dr. Mary Marfisee, an assistant professor of medicine at UCLA and family medical services director at the Union Rescue Mission, has been working for nearly 20 years with the more than 5,000 men, women, and children who come through the shelter’s doors annually.
Union Rescue Mission’s internal studies found that about 87% of women were not up to date with preventative pap smear or mammogram health screenings. When women from shelters attempt to get preventative care, they face multiple barriers. In one case, a patient with a family history of breast cancer seeking a mammogram encountered a nine-month wait after hours of calls, then faced additional obstacles: she lacked her medical card and had moved multiple times without an ID, requiring staff to start the enrollment process from scratch. Another patient sought help for lower abdominal pains spanning decades, but finding the root cause proved difficult without consistent care. After staff conducted an hours-long history, they learned she had an IUD placed 32 years prior that had never been removed and had become embedded in her lower uterine wall.
In December, Marfisee launched the first phase of a new women’s health initiative at the shelter, leading regular town halls with medical student interns to raise awareness about important screenings including cervical and breast cancer check-ups. The next phase involves partnering with a local hospital to bring a mobile health van to the shelter twice a month, allowing Marfisee and volunteer physicians to offer free pap smears and mammograms to the approximately 150 women living at the shelter at any given time. Marfisee estimates they will provide up to 100 breast exams per visit. Though the initiative experienced logistical delays, Marfisee estimated they would begin screening patients by February.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://us.headtopics.com/news/skid-row-women-s-health-78394067