Table 1.
Characteristics of Focus Group Participants (n=29)1
| Age, mean (range), years [n=25] | 48 (32-68) |
| Age at discharge from military, mean (range), years [n=25] | 26 (17-45) |
| Age at first homelessness, mean (range), years [n=17] | 36 (17-62) |
| Race/ethnicity (%) [n=24] | |
| African American | 46 |
| White | 33 |
| Mixed | 13 |
| Hispanic | 4 |
| American Indian Alaskan Native | 4 |
| Marital status (%) [n=17] | |
| Single | 41 |
| Divorced/Separated | 47 |
| Married | 0 |
| Widowed | 12 |
| Education level (%) [n=17] | |
| High school/GED | 18 |
| Vocational School | 12 |
| Associate's Degree | 59 |
| Bachelor's Degree | 12 |
| Work status (%) [n=17] | |
| Employed | 0 |
| Unemployed | 29 |
| Disabled | 65 |
| Retired | 6 |
| % on probation or parole [n=17] | 47 |
| Service connection (%) [n=24] | |
| Non-service connected | 58 |
| Branch of military (%) [n=29] | |
| Army | 69 |
| Navy | 14 |
| Air Force | 10 |
| Marines | 3 |
| Coast Guard | 3 |
| Period of military service (%) [n=29] | |
| Vietnam Era | 24 |
| Post-Vietnam Era | 45 |
| Period around Persian Gulf War | 21 |
| Between Persian Gulf War and 9/11 | 10 |
| Use of drugs more than 5 times in lifetime (%) [n=17] | |
| Cocaine/crack/free base | 71 |
| Marijuana/hashish | 53 |
| Self-administered sedatives | 35 |
| Self-administered pain-killers | 24 |
| LSD or other hallucinogens | 24 |
| Frequency of alcohol consumption in past year (%) [n=17] | |
| Never | 35 |
| Monthly or less | 35 |
| 2-4 times per month | 0 |
| 2+ times per week | 24 |
| Use of homeless assistance services in past 30 days (%) [n=17] | |
| Medical services | 76 |
| Mental health care program | 59 |
| A shelter, mission, or transitional housing program | 47 |
| Alcohol or drug treatment program | 47 |
| Daytime drop-in center | 24 |
| Job or employment services | 24 |
| Vocational rehabilitation services | 12 |
1
Data was incomplete for some demographic items, so the sample size for each item is provided.