Project Summary

With a grant from the the National Institute on Drug Abuse to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, the Colorado Lab is supporting researchers at the School of Medicine (Principal Investigator: Joshua Barocas, MD) and across the country in the development and testing of models that simulate how housing-centered approaches and service-related interventions can improve health outcomes and reduce racial/ethnic disparities in HIV, overdose, and life expectancy among individuals experiencing homelessness in two cities where homelessness is at crisis levels—Denver, which has seen an increase in homelessness of more than 30% since 2022, and San Francisco, which has the highest prevalence of homelessness in the U.S.

This new project will grow the evidence base for solutions to the profound health effects related to the experience of homelessness. Compared to people in the U.S. who are stably housed, those who experience homelessness die on average 30 years earlier and have an increased risk of substance use disorders and HIV. While there are evidence-based solutions that improve health outcomes for people experiencing homelessness, they are not universally implemented.

This is a 5-year project that began in the fall of 2024.