Resilience in homeless adults: a review of literature.

Although the concept of resilience has been studied for the past three decades, a paucity of research has focused on this concept in homeless adults, particularly among homeless adults who are persons of color African-Americans have been characterized as being resilient and it has been reported that African-Americans are disproportionately represented among the homeless population nationwide. The purpose of this article is to review the scope of research previously done in the area of resilience in homeless adults and to highlight the importance of the concept of resilience in the lives and existence of this at-risk group. Homeless adults face enormous stressors on a daily basis as they navigate a minefield of mental, physical, and environmental risks. How they respond and how they adapt to these stressors can potentially affect their health outcomes as well as their quality of life. The seven articles retrieved for this article support the contention that further research is needed to increase the understanding of how the concept of resilience impacts the ability of homeless adults, and in particular persons of color to endure and survive despite their adverse conditions.