Feasibility Randomised Trial Comparing Two Forms of Mental Health Supported Accommodation (Supported Housing and Floating Outreach); a Component of the QuEST (Quality and Effectiveness of Supported Tenancies) Study

Conclusions: Our results do not support investment in a large-scale trial in England at this time.Trial registration: UK CRN Portfolio database, Trial ID: ISRCTN19689576.Trial funding: National Institute of Health Research (RP-PG-0707-10093).IntroductionIn England, one third of working-age adults with severe mental health problems (around 60,000 people) reside in supported accommodation provided by health and social services and housing associations (1, 2). These services have been categorised into three main types (3): residential care homes (offering high levels of longer-term support, 24 h a day to individuals with high needs), supported housing (offering time-limited, building-based support to individuals in single or shared tenancies), and floating outreach (offering flexible, visiting support to people in a permanent tenancy). The costs vary from around £150 per person per week for floating outreach to around £500 for residential care (4). The annual cost to the health and social care budget is therefore hundreds of millions of pounds.The majority of people who require these services have complex mental health needs and functional impairments that impair their ability to manage activities of daily living. In England, individuals often graduate from supported housing services to floating outreach as their skills and confidence to manage their own tenancy increase. However, previous studies suggest that there are few differences in the amount and type of su...
Source: Frontiers in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research