"There is a very evidence-based way to house people for people who are experiencing homelessness, it has been around a long time, it's been testing empirically, it's called housing first"

— Dr Margot Kushel, Director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.

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In this episode, Dr Margot Kushel explores the moral injury of being a frontline clinician and having to discharge people back onto the streets. How her College told her that no medical school would ever accept her and her success has been to honor the commitment to others who face unfair treatment by our system. Dr Kushel elaborates on her landmark research into homelessness in California, highlighting the moral, medical, social and economic impact that this issue has on those individuals, their families and society as a whole. She goes on to emphasise that homelessness is a housing problem and that this is one of the key areas that needs to be addressed. Dr Kushel outlines the less forgiving the structural and safety net factors are, the fewer individual factors it takes for people to end up homeless. Finally, she explains the types of activities that clinicians can get involved in to help solve this issue.

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About the guest: Margot Kushel, MD is a Professor of Medicine at University of California San Francisco, and Division Chief and Director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, and Director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. She is a practising general internist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Margot's research focuses on the causes and consequences of homelessness and housing instability, with the goal of preventing and ending homelessness and ameliorating the effects of homelessness and housing instability on health. She speaks at a local, state, and national level about issues of homelessness, and frequently provides testimony to legislative bodies.

Contact information: If you have any feedback, questions or if you'd like to get in touch, reach out at jono@clinicalchangemakers.com

Music attribution: AudioCoffee from Pixabay.

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