Dr. Igor von Laere received his academic doctorate from the University of Amsterdam on the 12th of January, 2010. The ceremony was held in an historic Agnieten chapel constructed in 1652 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Dr. von Laere has worked tirelessly to provide and improve health care for the homeless since he first began working with them in 1995. Over the last decade he has been active in several organizations, including the Dutch National Platform for Homelessness Research and the Dutch Association of Addiction Medicine. In addition he helped to found the European Network of Homeless Health Workers and, with the support of Rotary Club Amsterdam Nachtwacht, he was able to set up the Doctors for Homeless Foundation. This foundation aims to share medical information and experience internationally for those who are most in need. Read his doctoral thesis, and find photos of Dr. von Laere in our gallery.

A seven year review of convalescent medical care use provided in a homeless shelter, published in the BioMed Central Health Services Research journal, details demographics, medical diagnoses, referral patterns, length of stay, discharge locations, mortality rate, and use patterns. The results and analysis will allow decision makers to better tailor medical care provided to those in need. Read the full text of the article here. Discuss in our forums here.

Published in Quality Management in Health Care journal, an article analyzing current methods of street medicine implementation details the challenges facing health care providers to the homeless. In addition, the authors review the ongoing evolution of best practices and posit quality of care evaluation models which will enable these challenges to be minimized, improving health care delivery. Read the full text of the article here. Discuss in our forums here.