Housing Satisfaction Among Chronically Homeless Adults: Identification of its Major Domains, Changes Over Time, and Relation to Subjective Well-being and Functional Outcomes

Abstract

There is limited consensus on the critical domains of housing satisfaction among chronically homeless adults and little information on changes in housing satisfaction over time or whether housing satisfaction at initial entry into housing is correlated with subsequent subjective well-being or other outcomes. The current study tracked housing satisfaction over a 2-year period in a multisite supported housing initiative and examined the predictive value of clients' housing satisfaction when they were first housed on various subjective and functional outcomes. A total of 756 participants from 11 sites were enrolled in the study. Six domains of housing satisfaction were identified: good environment, control and consumer choice, physical quality, geographic proximity to desirable resources, positive case manager contact, and frequency of landlord interaction. Over 2 years, there were slight declines in housing satisfaction on physical quality of housing and satisfaction with case manager contact, and an increase in satisfaction with landlord interaction. Consistent with some previous research, housing satisfaction was not predictive of housing tenure, clinical outcomes, or duration of program participation. While becoming housed is a significant gain for chronically homeless people, their satisfaction with housing did not predict functional outcomes.

Architectural Design Characteristics, Uses, and Perceptions of Community Spaces in Permanent Supportive Housing

“…Current studies that query residents about their experience of supportive housing have similarly treated the idea of home very generally, without exploring specific experiences of living in such places. Studies have asked formerly homeless residents if their homes offered them a "good environment" (Palepu, Hubley, Russell, Gadermann & Chinni, 2012;Tsai, Mares & Rosenheck, 2012) or were "in good repair" (O'Connell, Rosenheck, Kasprow & Frisman, 2006). There is, however, very little known about residents' feelings, perceptions, or emotional connections to the design aspects of support spaces in permanent housing.…”

Mental health supported accommodation services: a systematic review of mental health and psychosocial outcomes

“…Other related factors include access to housing subsidies [ 39 ], neighbourhood quality [ 9 ], supportive relationships with support staff [ 9 ], case manager support to access appropriate benefits [ 18 ], self-harm behaviours [ 30 ], chronic pain/illness [ 30 ], improvements in housing problems [ 8 ] and past [ 9 , 19 ] and current substance misuse [ 30 ]. Intensity of case management [ 39 ] and service users’ preference for housing type and satisfaction with support were not found to be predictive of housing stability [ 31 , 32 ].…”

“…Eight studies of homeless supported accommodation services investigated mental health symptoms (five high quality [ 13 , 21 , 23 , 44 , 45 ] and three moderate quality studies [ 32 , 33 , 42 ]). Symptom assessment methods varied (across all studies in this review), and included clinical assessments, staff-rated and self-report instruments.…”

How do Housing Subsidies Improve Quality of Life Among Homeless Adults? A Mediation Analysis

“…While a major goal of supported housing is to help homeless adults exit from homelessness, today's leading models of supported housing view housing as but one critical step toward overall improvement in quality of life and well‐being. Yet, research examining the effectiveness of supported housing programs has paid comparatively little attention to quality of life outcomes beyond housing and residential stability (Baker & Palmer, ; Mandiberg, ; Tsai, Mares, & Rosenheck, ). Only a handful of studies have attempted to understand the processes associated with improvements in quality of life or the mechanisms through which supported housing may lead to these improvements (Tsemberis et al., ).…”