A participatory benchmarking strategy for describing and improving supportive housing

Area of Science:

• Community Mental Health
• Housing Studies
• Participatory Action Research

Background:

• Supportive housing programs are crucial for individuals with mental health challenges.
• Documenting best practices is essential for program effectiveness and client outcomes.
• Stakeholder involvement ensures relevance and applicability of developed standards.

Purpose of the Study:

• To collaboratively develop service benchmarks for supportive housing.
• To identify best practices for achieving these benchmarks.
• To inform strategies for improving supportive housing program delivery.

Main Methods:

• Participatory research involving stakeholders in a local mental health housing system.
• Collaborative development of service benchmarks.
• Recommendation of practices to achieve benchmarks.

Main Results:

• Development of 40 specific service benchmarks for supportive housing.
• Identification of actionable practices to meet established benchmarks.
• Insights into improving the delivery of mental health housing services.

Conclusions:

• Collaborative benchmark development is effective for improving supportive housing.
• The identified benchmarks and practices can guide service enhancement.
• Findings have direct implications for policy and practice in mental health housing.