VIDEO: Considering comorbidities key to treating homeless patients

SAN FRANCISCO — In a video perspective, Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, MD, MPH, professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine, discusses medical comorbidities associated with homelessness, namely of the feet.

“The feet are a special interest of mine,” Ritchie said in this Healio video. “Many homeless wear poor quality shoes, have their stuff in shopping carts, walk a lot, don’t go to a podiatrist, don’t get [manicures or pedicures], get long toenails and may well have other foot problems which too often we overlook when they come into an inpatient psychiatric ward.”

Ritchie also discussed the importance of simplifying the discharge regimen.

“This is controversial,” she said. “Some people think we need to have the same level of care whether someone is homeless or not. I have come to the opinion that we really need to focus on a regimen that a homeless person can follow after they leave the hospital.”