Golembiewski Elizabeth, Watson Dennis P, Robison Lisa, Coberg John W
Department of Health Policy & Management, Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University, 1050 Wishard Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University, 1050 Wishard Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Soc Sci (Basel). 2017 Sep;6(3). doi: 10.3390/socsci6030096. Epub 2017 Aug 23.
The positive relationship between social support and mental health has been well documented, but individuals experiencing chronic homelessness face serious disruptions to their social networks. Housing First (HF) programming has been shown to improve health and stability of formerly chronically homeless individuals. However, researchers are only just starting to understand the impact HF has on residents' individual social integration. The purpose of the current study was to describe and understand changes in social networks of residents living in a HF program. Researchers employed a longitudinal, convergent parallel mixed method design, collecting quantitative social network data through structured interviews (n = 13) and qualitative data through semi-structured interviews (n = 20). Quantitative results demonstrated a reduction in network size over the course of one year. However, increases in both network density and frequency of contact with network members increased. Qualitative interviews demonstrated a strengthening in the quality of relationships with family and housing providers and a shedding of burdensome and abusive relationships. These results suggest network decay is a possible indicator of participants' recovery process as they discontinued negative relationships and strengthened positive ones.
社会支持与心理健康之间的积极关系已有充分记载，但长期无家可归的个体面临其社交网络的严重破坏。“住房优先”（HF）项目已被证明能改善曾经长期无家可归个体的健康状况和稳定性。然而，研究人员才刚刚开始了解HF对居民个体社会融入的影响。本研究的目的是描述和理解居住在HF项目中的居民社交网络的变化。研究人员采用了纵向、收敛平行混合方法设计，通过结构化访谈收集定量社交网络数据（n = 13），并通过半结构化访谈收集定性数据（n = 20）。定量结果表明，在一年的时间里网络规模有所减小。然而，网络密度以及与网络成员的联系频率均有所增加。定性访谈表明，与家人和住房提供者的关系质量得到加强，同时摆脱了沉重且具有虐待性的关系。这些结果表明，网络衰退可能是参与者恢复过程的一个指标，因为他们中断了负面关系并加强了正面关系。
