Sorting it out: Eliciting consumer priorities for recovery in supportive housing

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Mental Health
• Social Work
• Public Health

Background:

• Understanding individual priorities in recovery is crucial for effective mental health support.
• Supportive housing programs serve adults with severe mental illnesses, often experiencing homelessness.
• Eliciting participant perspectives directly enhances person-centered care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and rank participant priorities within their personal recovery journeys.
• To explore participant perspectives on various recovery domains.
• To assess the utility of the card sort technique in understanding recovery priorities.

Main Methods:

• A card sort technique was used with 38 participants in NYC supportive housing programs.
• Participants ranked 12 recovery domain cards by importance.
• Semi-structured interviews explored the meaning and reasoning behind card rankings.

Main Results:

• Mental health (95%), housing (92%), and physical health (89%) were top priorities.
• Family (76%) and partner (74%) support were highly valued.
• Work, school, hobbies, and social connections were less frequently prioritized.

Conclusions:

• Functional independence via mental/physical health and housing are paramount for recovery.
• The card sort method is effective for eliciting consumer priorities.
• This technique empowers providers to better support individual recovery goals.