Background: The financial crisis of the last decade has increased the number of people living in extreme poverty in Greece. Until today, there is no research evidence on the bio-psycho-social needs of the population. The current study, among other, aimed at investigating the living and working conditions, the health and mental health status of these people and produced recommendations for health care policy and planning.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Crete Region with adult beneficiaries of material support benefits (according to income-related criteria). The study was part of the program FAED, which was co-funded by the EU and offered material support (e.g. food, material for personal hygiene, etc. to more than 17.000 beneficiaries in Crete region within 2016-2017. A structured questionnaire extracted information on various aspects including, working, housing and living conditions, health and mental health status.
Results: 798 individuals (46.5% male; 43.3 years) consented to participate and completed the questionnaire. Mean time of unemployment was 4.2 years. 26.8% was accommodated by relatives, 23.5% rented a house and 18% lacked heating. Nearly half of the participants reported a chronic disease (47.0%), 24.1% reported disability certified by health authorities. 4.9% had severe alcohol-related problems, 50.6% had mild to severe depression symptoms and 40.3% mild to severe symptoms of anxiety disorder. 12.0% totally lacked a support network for daily practical and emotional issues.
Conclusions: Personal psychosocial needs seem to have been neglected because of complex family needs. Socioeconomic deprivation seems to have exacerbated chronic disease management due to neglect of health care needs. A huge burden of mental diseases is evident necessitating community mental health care.