 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Alvin S. Mares, PhD, NEPEC/Psychiatry, VA/Yale University, 950 Campbell Ave., West Haven, CT 06516, (203) 932-5711 x3618, Alvin.Mares@med.va.gov, Rani Desai, PhD, Psychiatry, Yale University, 950 Campbell Avenue, West Haven, CT 06516, and Robert Rosenheck, MD, Psychiatry and Public Health, Yale University, Building 8, 950 Campbell Ave, West Haven, CT 06516.
Objective: Housing is both an important component of treatment and an important treatment outcome among seriously mentally ill persons living in the community. Yet the quality of housing among the mentally ill has been found to be less than among the general population. In this study we examine the relationship between client and neighborhood characteristics, and subjective housing quality among mental health consumers.
Methods: Cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 468 clients recruited from 3 community mental health centers in Connecticut. Client characteristics included socio-demographic and clinical status items. Data describing the objective characteristics of the 244 census tract block group neighborhoods in which clients lived were obtained from the 2000 decennial census, from which 3 measures were created using principal component analysis, including income, affordability, and plumbing/cooking facilities. Six measures of subjective housing quality rated by clients were examined: 4 housing unit dimensions (space & privacy, maintenance, perceived affordability, and compatibility with landlord), and 2 neighborhood dimensions (safety & cleanliness and convenience). Ordinary least squares regression analyses were used to identify client and neighborhood predictors of these 6 measures of housing quality.
Results: Six of 11 client characteristics (education, income, incarceration, living alone, psychiatric symptoms, and medication side effects), and 2 of 3 objective neighborhood characteristics (income and plumbing/kitchen facilities), were significantly associated with one or more measures of subjective housing quality.
Conclusions: This study is among the first to examine the relationship between client and neighborhood characteristics and subjective housing quality among mental health consumers.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Housing, Mental Illness
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.