School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montréal, Canada.
Douglas Mental Health University Research Center (DMHURC), Montréal, Canada.
Early Interv Psychiatry. 2024 Jul;18(7):561-570. doi: 10.1111/eip.13495. Epub 2024 Feb 14.
People living with mental illness are more likely than the general population to experience adverse housing outcomes, including homelessness. The aim of the current study is to examine residential status when participants have their first contact with mental health services, and the correlates of residential status at that moment.
First-time mental health service users were recruited from seven clinical sites across Québec. Data on residential status at entry in the project, as well as demographic, clinical and social variables, were collected using self-report and interviewer-rated questionnaires. Participants were classified as 'Homeless', 'At risk of homelessness' and 'Stably Housed', and correlates of residential status were identified through multivariate logistic regression and unbiased recursive partitioning.
Among the 478 participants, 206 (43.1%) were in stable housing, 171 (35.8%) were at risk of homelessness and 101 (21.1%) were classified as homeless. Placement in a youth protection facility was strongly associated with adverse housing outcomes, while having a high school diploma and more social support were associated with more stable housing situations.
First-time mental health service users are likely to experience a range of adverse housing situations, indicating the potential for clinical sites to implement homelessness primary prevention strategies. Factors related to family, foster care and schooling seem to be particularly salient in understanding risk of homelessness in first-time mental health service users, calling for intersectoral action to prevent adverse psychosocial outcomes in this population.
患有精神疾病的人比一般人群更有可能经历不良的住房结果，包括无家可归。本研究的目的是检查参与者首次接触精神卫生服务时的居住状况，以及此时居住状况的相关因素。
首次使用精神卫生服务的患者从魁北克的七个临床站点招募。使用自我报告和访谈者评估问卷收集项目开始时的居住状况以及人口统计学、临床和社会变量的数据。参与者被分为“无家可归”、“有流落街头风险”和“稳定住房”，通过多变量逻辑回归和无偏递归分区确定居住状况的相关因素。
在 478 名参与者中，206 人（43.1%）稳定住房，171 人（35.8%）有流落街头风险，101 人（21.1%）无家可归。被安置在青年保护机构与不良住房结果密切相关，而高中文凭和更多的社会支持与更稳定的住房情况有关。
首次使用精神卫生服务的患者可能会经历一系列不良的住房情况，这表明临床站点有可能实施无家可归初级预防策略。与家庭、寄养和学校教育相关的因素似乎在理解首次使用精神卫生服务的患者无家可归风险方面尤为重要，这需要采取跨部门行动，以防止该人群出现不良的心理社会后果。
