A quick search of the foot-related stories in the news today gave us a stark reminder as to why we are so passionate about funding and participating in the annual Our Hearts To Your Soles event, which provides footwear and health screenings to homeless and financially burdened individuals in the Twin Cities. According to researchers out of Canada, as many as two-thirds of homeless people suffer form some sort of foot problem at any given time.
Homelessness and Foot Problems
Matthew To and Thomas Brothers are two fourth-year students at Dalhousie Medical School in Canada, and they set off to see just how prevalent foot problems are in the homeless population. They found that foot problems run rampant in the homeless.
“We found that large numbers of homeless people have foot pain and other problems severe enough to affect their ability to walk,” said To, adding that the problem is even more troublesome when you consider how much a homeless person walks throughout the day.
“Walking is a primary means of transportation in this population — one study in our review found that the majority of homeless people walk an average of five or more hours a day — so this is a serious limitation.
Common Foot Issues
According to the researchers, homeless individuals are affected by a number of different conditions. Some of the more common problems researchers ran into include:
- Infections
- Ulcers
- Deformities
- Ingrown toenails
- Nerve damage from uncontrolled diabetes
- Physical foot injuries
- Frostbite
- Gangrene
In addition to the findings about foot problems, researchers noted that footwear was also an issue for homeless individuals. They said that more than 40 percent of homeless men wear ill-fitting shoes.
Stories like this help shine a light on a population that often gets overlooked by society. They are entitled to proper foot care just like everyone else, but they don’t always have the means to attain it. That’s why we love partnering with local businesses to provide footwear and foot health screenings each year to homeless individuals in our area. The event takes place around Thanksgiving every year, and we’re always looking for volunteers. If you think you’d be interested in volunteering at a future event, reach out to us on social media or in the comments section and we’ll send you more information.