4160.0: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 1:15 PM

Abstract #25790

Oregon Supported Housing Program: The use of a waiting list comparison group

Robert Paulson, PhD1, Debi Elliot, PhD1, and Vicki Skryha, MSW2. (1) RRI, Portland State University, 1912 S.W. Sixth Ave, Suite 120, Portland, OR 97201, (503)725-5195, paulsor@rri.pdx.edu, (2) Mental Health and Developmental Disability Services Division, Oregon Department of Human Resources, 2575 Bittern Street, NE, Salem, OR 97310

The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) Housing Initiative for Persons with Serious Mental Illness is a multisite study of supported housing and other housing approaches for persons living with serious mental illness. By collecting additional site-specific information, individual sites are able to augment and strengthen cross-site findings and analyses.

In the Oregon Supportive Housing Study, in addition to examining supported housing and an alternative housing approach, data have been collected on a comparison group based on a waiting list of study participants. The addition of this comparison group provides an opportunity to conduct additional outcome analyses. First, it can control for threats to validity of history and maturation by comparing those persons who never enter housing with those who are in housing in the same time period. Second, it provides a true baseline measure on key outcome variables for those individuals who eventually enter treatment or comparison housing, somewhat compensating for the lack of true pre-housing measures in the cross-site analyses.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to: 1. Describe the use of a waiting list sample in conductiong outcome analyses, and how it can strengthen the validity of outcome results.

Keywords: Mental Illness, Housing

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA