title: Quality of life after housing first for adults with serious mental illness who have experienced chronic homelessness.
abstract: This 1-year longitudinal study of adults who have recently transitioned from homelessness to Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) focuses on quality of life as a primary outcome of interest. Eighty of 103 new tenants participated in structured interviews at the time of entry into their new home and at 12-months post-housing. t-tests assessed differences in community participation and quality of life measures at the 2 time points. Mixed effects models examined the impact of community participation on quality of life. Results show that time in independent housing was significantly associated with several domains of quality of life. Symptom severity was also significantly and negatively related to quality of life domains. Community participation was significantly related to frequency of social contacts only. These findings suggest that community participation is not critical to improving quality of life, and that despite concerns that individuals may feel isolated and lonely when living independently, satisfaction with one׳s living situation and family relationships nevertheless improves with housing tenure.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California, School of Social Work, 1150S. Olive Street, #1429, Los Angeles, CA 90015-2211, USA. Electronic address: bhenwood@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Benjamin F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Henwood
authors.affiliation: University of Kansas, School of Social Work, Lawrence, KS, USA.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matejkowski
authors.affiliation: Pathways to Housing Inc., New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stefancic
authors.affiliation: Salem State University, School of Social Work, Salem, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lukens
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology*; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012944:Social Support
keywords: Community integration; Life satisfaction; Supportive housing