For older adults who are experiencing homelessness, staying healthy isn’t always easy. And managing chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease or arthritis is tough for both the health care provider and the patient.
Bobbie Kithcart is a nurse at Justa Center, a day center for homeless seniors 55 and older.
"So they have chronic diseases, and many of them often don't manage their chronic diseases very well. Plus, they get their medications stolen, and they get beat up and all the other things, you know, that happened to people who don't have housing," Kithcart said.
Kithcart has also seen burns and abscesses this summer. She says she’s had four patients go to the hospital so they can be drained.
"And these wounds take a lot of time to heal, because they usually have to heal from the inside out because they're open," Kithcart said.
The good news says Kithcart is that she has seen fewer cases of heat stroke this summer compared to last.
