Housing First and Severe Mental Disorders: The Challenge of Exiting Homelessness

James Lachaud, Cilia Mejia-Lancheros, Rosane Nisenbaum, Vicky Stergiopoulos, Patricia O’Campo and Stephen W. Hwang

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2021, vol. 693, issue 1, 178-192

Abstract: We examine the long-term housing trajectories of 543 program participants at the Toronto site of the At Home/Chez-Soi project, a randomized controlled trial of a Housing First (HF) intervention for adults with mental disorders. The average follow-up period for our study was 5.5 years. We find that the HF approach, which includes housing subsidies and support services, was strongly associated with rapid transitions to sustained housing (70.4 percent of HF participants vs. 27.9 percent of treatment as usual participants). Mood disorders with psychotic features and primary psychotic disorders were negatively associated with the rapid and sustained housing trajectory, and alcohol use disorders were positively associated with a rapid then declining housing trajectory. We argue that to understand the long-term impacts of housing programs, research needs to better explore comprehensive and personalized care to support individuals with severe mental disorders.

Keywords: Housing First; psychosis; substance use; exiting homelessness; housing trajectory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:693:y:2021:i:1:p:178-192

DOI: 10.1177/0002716220987220

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