Housing for People with Serious Mental Illness: A Comparison of Values and Research

Abstract

This article contrasts values associated with the delivery of housing programs for people with serious mental illness with the typical topics pertaining to housing that are studied by researchers. Six values were identified through a search and content analysis of the literature on housing for people with serious mental illness. A second review of the literature was conducted to identify research on housing for this population. A comparison of findings from the two reviews suggested that whereas values concerned with the therapeutic benefits of housing had received considerable research attention, those concerned with a citizenship dimension had received relatively little. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the delivery of housing services and for housing research.

Health Status, Quality of Life, Residential Stability, Substance Use, and Health Care Utilization among Adults Applying to a Supportive Housing Program

“…Approaches to how housing and support are delivered are broadly differentiated in the research literature as "supportive housing" or "supported housing." [9][10][11][12][13] Supportive housing provides tenants with onsite or closely linked medical, mental health, and substance abuse services. In a supportive housing approach, support and services are integrated into the housing setting, although staff may be on call and not physically on site in the case of supervised apartments.…”

“…11 In contrast to supportive housing, supported housing allows individuals to live independently and access regular housing in the community while offering them individualized and flexible support services that are client-centered. 12,13 Overall, there is a lack of rigorous research evaluating the effectiveness of supportive housing, which includes a wide range of housing programs, complicating the interpretation of the research that has been conducted. Previous longitudinal research demonstrates that supportive housing can lead to long-term residential stability, improved quality of life, and a reduction in the frequency and length of hospitalizations and length of time in jail.…”

Homelessness and mental health: A challenge

“…Such a combined approach has been recommended by Carling (1993), who suggests that a step-by-step integration in the community and tailored therapeutic support to patients may be the best option. In addition, supportive housing can promote group decision-making, group problem solving and conflict resolution which can enable the individuals to enhance their own individual skills so that they can better cope with the problems related to the independent living situation (Sylvestre, Nelson, Sabloff, & Peddle, 2007). Many studies on supportive housing have shown a reduction of rates of homelessness, hospitalizations, psychopathology and substance abuse, with an improvement of financial stability and quality of life (Leff et al, 2009).…”

Les conditions d'hébergement favorables au rétablissement : perspective des usagers et usagères

“…L'espace physique disponible et le coût de l'hébergement constituent des enjeux majeurs pour les usagers et usagères des services en santé mentale (Browne et Courtney, 2005 ;Canadian Mental Health Association, British Columbia Division, 2010 ;Forchuk, WardGriffin, Csiernik et Turner, 2006 ;Lambert et al, 1999 ;Sylvestre, Nelson, Sabloff et Peddle, 2007). L'espace physique a également été associé aux interactions sociales, tant positives que négatives, chez les usagers et usagères (Boydell, 2006 ;Thériault, Jetté, Mathieu et Vaillancourt, 2001).…”