Article
Managing hoarding and squalor
- Andrew Gleason, Danielle Perkes, Anne PF Wand
- Aust Prescr 2021;44:79-84
- 1 June 2021
- DOI: 10.18773/austprescr.2021.020
Hoarding and squalor are complex conditions with a range of physical and mental comorbidities.
GPs play a key role in identifying people who experience these conditions, screening for safety risks, referral to specialist services and encouraging people to accept treatment and ongoing monitoring. Treatment for contributing and comorbid conditions should be optimised, with the help of specialist services when required. Medicines should be reviewed and adherence confirmed.
For moderate to severe hoarding and squalor, referral to specialist psychiatry, geriatrics and allied health services is recommended for thorough assessment, treatment of underlying conditions and ongoing management.
Hoarding and squalor are complex conditions with diverse underlying aetiologies. In both conditions there is an accumulation of possessions or rubbish. Intervention is recommended due to a risk to the health and safety of the individual or others.
Although hoarding and squalor can at times appear similar in the home environment, they are two different, albeit sometimes overlapping, conditions. Hoarding disorder is a mental illness whereas squalor describes an unsanitary living environment, which may be the end result of extreme domestic neglect or hoarding.1,2 A quarter of people with hoarding and squalor have a physical health problem that contributes to the state of their living environment, such as incontinence, immobility, or severe visual impairment.3
Hoarding and squalor can pose safety risks to the individual, other household occupants, pets and neighbours.4,5 People who hoard, and other household members, have been found dead after being trapped by falling items. Accumulated objects increase the risk of falls, and insect or rodent infestations lead to health hazards.5 The risk of fire and associated mortality is high.6
Hoarding becomes a disorder when it is excessive, reduces usable living space and interferes with people’s lives.7 A central feature is the accumulation of possessions due to difficulty discarding them related to distress, as opposed to poor motivation or unawareness concerning the need to discard.3 Hoarding disorder can occur in the absence of another physical or mental disorder and is a distinct diagnosis in DSM-5 (Box 1).8 Hoarding behaviour can also occur in association with various medical conditions (Box 2).9
Box 1 - DSM-5 hoarding disorder – abbreviated diagnostic criteria
A. Difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their value.
B. This difficulty is due to a perceived need to save the items and to distress associated with discarding them.
C. The difficulty discarding possessions results in the accumulation of possessions that congest and clutter active living areas and substantially compromises their intended use.
D. The hoarding causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
E. The hoarding is not attributable to another medical condition.
Source: adapted from reference 8 (p. 247)
Box 2 - Conditions in which hoarding behaviour can occur
Hoarding disorder tends to begin early in life and has a chronic, progressive course.2,10 The prevalence is 1.5–5.8%.11 Insight is limited in about half of cases.10
Approximately half of all people with hoarding disorder are impaired by a current physical health condition. Arthritis and sleep apnoea are common in older people who hoard.12 Estimates of comorbid mental illness, such as mood, anxiety or attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, range from 56–85%.11,13 Personality traits of perfectionism, indecisiveness and procrastination are associated with hoarding.14 People with hoarding disorder often have a low quality of life and poor function.15 The burden on family members is high.16
Severe domestic squalor describes a home that is so unclean, messy and unhygienic that people of a similar culture and background would consider extensive clearing and cleaning essential.17 This is not a diagnostic entity in current classification systems, but an epiphenomenon of other diagnoses. There are two main pathways to squalor – domestic neglect such as failure to remove rubbish, and hoarding such as excessive accumulation of items.1
People living in severe domestic squalor often refuse intervention, withdraw socially and lack insight into their living conditions.1 About half are over 65 years old, and at least one in a 1000 people over 65 live in squalor.1,18 Presentation is often precipitated by the loss of a partner, increasing frailty or symptoms of a neurocognitive disorder.19 Neglect and elder abuse can also be potential factors.20
The majority of people living in squalor also have a psychiatric disorder (Box 3),1 yet only half have had contact with a mental health service in the preceding year.3 People living in squalor may be malnourished and mortality is high.21,22
Box 3 - Conditions that can lead to squalor
Cognitive impairment, specifically executive dysfunction (also known as frontal lobe impairment), is almost universal in people living in severe domestic squalor.18 Executive dysfunction leads to deficits in planning, organisation, abstract reasoning, insight and decision making.23 Similarly, hoarding is also associated with specific deficits in information processing, particularly attention, memory and executive functioning.24,25 Hoarding and squalor may both arise from a frontal dysexecutive process.26
It is uncommon for GPs to receive referrals for hoarding and squalor, but it is important for them to be aware of how to screen for the severity of hoarding and squalor along with the risk to safety, and pathways for assessment and referral.
Unless GPs do home visits, it is often not immediately obvious that a patient has hoarding disorder. Hoarding behaviour may first come to light through a variety of sources including neighbours, relatives, service providers, police, fire services, local council and accommodation providers. The person tasked with the initial assessment may be from a general or aged-care health service, mental health, welfare and community services or the local council.27
Detailed multidisciplinary assessment is important in moderate to severe cases (Box 4). The team undertaking the initial assessment screens for underlying health issues, evaluates individual needs and can then refer on to specialist services for more targeted assessment and management. The assessment includes:
Box 4 Principles of assessment of hoarding and squalor30,33,40
Engagement: Build trust. Reframe your role in terms of meeting the person's perceived needs.
Home visit: Beforehand, obtain information to identify safety issues.
Environment/symptom severity: Assess the degree of hoarding/squalor and document it – take photos if the person permits, or use validated tools such as the Environmental Cleanliness and Clutter Scale (ECCS), Clutter Image Rating Scale (CIRS), Hoarding Rating Scale (HRS).
Contributing conditions: Assess the factors underlying hoarding/squalor and possible comorbidities:
Function: Screen for impact on daily activities. For example, does the person:
Potential for harm/safety risks: Assess the consequences of hoarding/squalor:
Legal and ethical issues/capacity: Assess the person’s decision-making capacity in relation to hoarding/squalor. Are there other legal considerations? For example, does the council or another organisation have the power to override the person’s wishes? Consider the person’s readiness for change, and the safety risks, and capacity to refuse treatment in relation to the risks.
Collateral history should be obtained.
Many people with hoarding disorder or living in squalor lack insight into their condition and refuse treatment.28 If intervention is needed (because there is a risk to the person’s health or to others) but declined, assessment of their capacity to refuse treatment is indicated. Given the high prevalence of executive impairment, it is not acceptable to withhold treatment out of a purported respect for the person’s autonomy without conducting a capacity assessment.29 Attempts to engage affected individuals and promote capacity should be maximised. There are three main scenarios:
The majority of evidence for specific management strategies in severe domestic squalor comes from case reports.1 Management guidelines are consensus based.1 A summary of interventions to manage hoarding and squalor is provided in Box 5. If another medical or psychiatric condition is the main driver of hoarding, this should be treated first.1
Box 5 - Interventions for hoarding and squalor
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Hoarding Disorder (CBT-H) reduces disease severity, but functional impairment may persist.5,32 Therapy should target specific symptoms, such as emotional attachment to items, patterns of avoidance and neuropsychological deficits.5 Behavioural approaches include:
Motivational interviewing techniques may be useful.5 Emerging approaches for moderate to severe hoarding include harm reduction34 and community-based interventions35 which focus on safety interventions with multidisciplinary and multi-agency responses.
Clinical trials of drug treatments for hoarding disorder are of poor methodological quality but show modest benefit (Table).36 Open-label trials suggest improvement with paroxetine in obsessive compulsive disorder with hoarding,37 and with venlafaxine,38 adjunctive methylphenidate39 and atomoxetine in hoarding disorder.40
Table - Pharmacotherapy studies for hoarding
Study |
Population |
Intervention |
Outcome |
Saxena, et al37 |
OCD (n=32 with hoarding, n=47 without) |
Paroxetine (open label, titrated to target dose of 40 mg/day), no other treatment |
Both groups improved with no significant differences between groups. Hoarding symptoms improved as much as other OCD symptoms. |
Saxena and Sumner38 |
Hoarding disorder (n=24) |
Venlafaxine (open label, titrated to 150–300 mg/day), no other treatment |
36% decrease in UCLA Hoarding Severity Scale score, 70% classified as ‘responders’ |
Rodriguez, et al39 |
Hoarding disorder (n=4), one with comorbid OCD |
Methylphenidate (open label, 18–72 mg/day), usual medicines continued |
2 of the 4 subjects had a modest reduction in hoarding symptoms |
Grassi, et al40 |
Hoarding disorder (n=12) |
Atomoxetine (open label, flexible dose of 40–80 mg/day) |
Statistically significant reduction on UCLA Hoarding Severity Scale for the group, 6 classified as ‘responders’ and 3 ‘partial responders’ |
OCD obsessive compulsive disorder
GPs, often with established long-term relationships with their patients, can play an important role in both the detection and management of hoarding and squalor (Box 6).41 A coordinated approach should be provided to ensure the home is safe for the patient, others living in the same residence and any carers (Box 4). This can include developing safety goals with the individual, and regular home-visit support to declutter key areas, motivational interviewing, emotional support, and physical assistance or cleaning if the person is frail. GPs are also well placed to ensure underlying physical and mental health conditions are being managed, and to check on medication adherence, use-by date and storage.
Box 6 - General practice strategies for hoarding and squalor
Source: adapted from reference 41
In severe cases, specialised cleaning and pest eradication may be needed, particularly for squalor. Cleaning and decluttering can be distressing. Emotional support, a written cleaning agreement, and a slow clean approach where possible are recommended.34 One-off cleaning is usually inadequate and does not address excessive acquisition.42 When a one-off clean has occurred, a thorough ongoing management plan should be developed including follow-up and support to prevent recurrence, such as ongoing home-based case management, community treatment orders for underlying mental illness, and monitoring by GPs and other health professionals.30 Where possible, the management plan should be shared across services to prevent or reduce the likelihood of recurrence or deterioration in mental health.
Some non-governmental organisations in Australia, such as Catholic Healthcare, have hoarding and squalor programs and support groups (e.g. hsru.com.au). Some allied health professionals such as occupational therapists, social workers and psychologists identify as having specialist skills in hoarding and squalor.
Private allied health professionals can provide specific programs for hoarding and squalor, particularly when the person has a funding source, such as under a National Disability Insurance Scheme or My Aged Care package in Australia.
Severe hoarding disorder and squalor are complex and challenging to manage. These conditions can often be debilitating for a person and their family. Health workers and people from social services who provide care often feel overwhelmed. Hoarding and squalor can lead to violation of health, housing and sanitation laws. A multiservice, multidisciplinary approach is often required. Medical, social and ethical dimensions need to be considered, and ideally clinical and environmental assessments should occur.
Conflicts of interest: none declared
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Snowdon J, Halliday G, Banerjee S. Severe domestic squalor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2012.
Partnership against homelessness [electronic resource]: guidelines for field staff to assist people living in severe domestic squalor. Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care. Sydney: ADHC; 2007.
Tompkins MA, Hartl TL. Digging out: helping your loved one manage clutter, hoarding, and compulsive acquiring. Oakland (CA): New Harbinger Publications; 2009.
Senior staff specialist, Department of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney
Honorary principal research fellow, Melbourne Dementia Research Centre, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne
Program manager and Senior occupational therapist, Hoarding and Squalor Service, Sydney Local Health District, Mental Health Service, Marrickville Health Centre, Sydney
Conjoint associate professor, Specialty of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
Conjoint senior lecturer, Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of NSW, Sydney
Senior staff specialist, Older Persons’ Mental Health, Concord Centre for Mental Health, Sydney