Scattered-site housing with intensive care management improved housing stability for homeless adults with mental illnesses over 2 years but did not improve general quality of life, Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos and her associates report.
At four sites, participants in the intervention group spent between 62.7% and 77.2% of the days following intervention in stable housing, while those in the group that received usual care spent between 29.7% and 38.8% of the days in the trial period in stable housing. No differences in quality of life were found between the intervention group and the usual care group.
“Scattered-site housing with [Intensive Case Management] services is effective in reducing homelessness among a broader spectrum of the homeless population who may have a severe mental illness but do not require [Assertive Community Treatment] support, best reserved for a smaller group of homeless adults with high needs for mental health and other support services,” the investigators said.
Read the full study in JAMA (doi: 10.1001/jama.2015.1163).