Consult-Liaison Psychiatry Services Research

The Consult-Liaison Psychiatry Services (CL Services) provides psychiatry and substance abuse consultations to inpatients at BMC including those patients on medical/surgical floors, dialysis patients, transplant patients and outpatient medical/surgical cases. Psychiatrists, researchers and psychosomatic fellows in CL Services are engaged in a range of research initiatives in the field of psychosomatic medicine

Pathways to Homelessness and Improved Health Care Access for Homeless Older Adults
Homeless older adults are a vulnerable cohort, with high rates of medical and mental health care needs, reduced life expectancy and high utilization of medical and social service resources. We are conducting a qualitative study with homeless adults aged 50 years and older receiving acute inpatient medical care at BMC. Interviews will focus on identifying how this cohort of older adults became homeless, challenges they faced in accessing medical and mental health care prior to becoming homeless, and current care needs now that they are faced with homelessness. Gaining a greater appreciation of the pathways leading to homelessness among older adults can assist in identifying key barriers to accessing medical care and inform the development of medical and mental health care services for this population. A further aim of this study is to highlight the potential role of consultation liaison psychiatry to serve as a link, facilitating the engagement of this complex patient population in both medical and psychiatric care.
Principal Investigator: Kaila Rudolph, MD