Use of group treatment among case managers in Department of Veterans Affairs supported housing program

Because the predominant supported housing model includes individual intensive community-based case management, use of group treatments in supported housing has not been adequately studied. This study examined practices and attitudes about groups among case managers in the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. We examined national administrative HUD-VASH data and an online survey of case managers from eight sites in the New England region, where dissemination of a new group-based model is in progress. Compared with other sites nationally, sites in the New England region had more group contacts, possibly reflecting the dissemination project. Among the New England sites (n = 8), administrative data showed that a higher percentage of group contacts was associated with a greater number of clients served and with more contacts per client. Although case manager survey data (n = 55) showed generally positive attitudes about using groups, particularly about the potential effectiveness of groups and peer support, greater reported use of groups was not associated with more positive attitudes about groups. These findings suggest providing group treatments in supported housing programs may help case managers stay connected to clients and case managers appear receptive to using groups, though further research is needed.