A survey of the housing needs of 101 people with mentally illness treated by the Central Western Area Mental Health Service were compared with data from the 1994 Australian Housing Study (Australian Bureau of Statistics). The results indicate that people with mental illness want housing similar to Australians in general. However, unemployment or very low incomes may affect their ability to realise their housing choices. Despite very low incomes most in the survey felt their rent was affordable. Preferences for housing types and factors relating to housing choice are described. The results are discussed in relation to the importance of housing in maintaining mental health.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aronson, L. & Fitzpatrick, B. (1990) Developing a collaborative relationship between a mental health agency and public housing authority: The Danebuty Conneticut Experience. Pennsylvania Housing Conference, May.
2.
Australian Bureau Of Statistics (1989) 1988-89 Household expenditure survey, AGPS, Canberra.
3.
Australian Bureau Of Statistics (1992) Facts on families. AGPS, Canberra .
4.
Australian Bureau Of Statistics (1994a) Australian Housing Survey. AGPS, Canberra.
5.
Australian Bureau Of Statistics (1994b) Focus on families: income and housing. AGPS, Canberra.
6.
Australian Bureau Of StatisticsBoarding house survey. (unpublished)
7.
Barber, J. (1985) Mental health policy in South Australia: A job half done. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 20, 79.
8.
Benson, P.R. (1989) Deinstitutionalisation and family caretaking of the seriously mentally ill: The policy context. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 17, 119-138.
9.
Carling, P.J. (1990) Major mental illness, housing and supports. The promise of community integration. American Psychologist, 45, 969-975.
10.
Carling, P.J. (1993) Housing and supports for persons with mental illness: Emerging approaches to research and practice. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 44, 439-449.
11.
Carling, P.J. & Ridgeway, P.A. (1989) Psychiatric Rehabilitation Approach to Housing. In Psychiatric Rehabilitation Programs (ed. M.D. Farkas & W.A. Anthony). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
12.
Earls, M. & Nelson, G. (1988) The relationship between long-term psychiatric clients psychological well-being and their perceptions of housing and social support. American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 279-293.
13.
Engels, G.L. (1977) The need for a new medical model: A challenge for biomedicine. Science, 196, 129-136.
14.
Gibbons, J.S. & Butler, J.P. (1987) Quality of life for 'new' long-stay psychiatric inpatients. The effects of moving to a hostel. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 347-354.
15.
Goering, P., Sylph, J., Foster, R., Boyles, S. & Babiak, T. (1992) Supportive housing: A consumer evaluation study . International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 38, 107-119.
16.
Goldman, H.H., Rachuba, L. & Van Tosh, L. (1995) Methods of assessing mental health consumer's preferences for housing and support service. Psychiatric Services, 46, 169-172.
17.
Harrison, G., Mason, P., Glazebrook, C., Medley, I., Croudace, T. & Docherty, S. (1994) Residence of incident cohort of psychotic patients after 13 years of follow-up. British Medical Journal, 308, 813-816.
18.
Hatfield, A.B. (1993) A family perspective on supported housing. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 44, 496-497.
19.
Hodgkins, S., Cyr, M. & Gaston, L. (1990) Impact of supervised apartments on the functioning of mentally disordered adults. Community Mental Health Journal , 26, 507-515.
20.
Human Rights And Equal Opportunity Commission ( 1993) Human Rights and Mental Illness: Report of the National Inquiry into Human Rights of People with Mental Illness, AGPS, Canberra.
21.
Kearns, R.A. & Taylor, S.M. (1989) Daily life experiences of people with chronic mental disabilities in Hamilton, Ontario. Canada's Mental Health , December, 1-4.
22.
Keck, J. (1990) Responding to consumer housing preferences: The Toledo experience. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 13, 58.
23.
Kety, S.S. (1974) From rationalization to reason. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 957-963.
24.
Knowles, C. (1995) Housing policy green paper: enabling more housing choices, ensuring quality housing outcomes. NSW Government , Sydney.
25.
Lafave, H.G., De Sousa, H.R., Prince, P.N., Atchison, K.E.D. & Gerber, G.J. (1995) Partnerships with people with mental illness who live below the poverty line. Hospital and Community Psychiatry , 46, 1071-1073.
26.
Mclennan, N. & Flannagan, T. (1995a) Demographic and health status of the Central West Health Service 1994. Bulletin No. 1, Department of Health, Bathurst.
27.
Mclennan, N. & Flannagan, T. (1995b) Demographic and health status within the Evans Health Service 1994. Bulletin No. 3, Department of Health, Bathurst.
28.
Mclennan, N. & Flannagan, T. (1994) Demographic and health status within the Lachlan Health Service 1994. Bulletin No. 27, Department of Health, Bathurst.
29.
National Housing Strategy (1992) Housing and services in rural and remote Australia. Department of Health, Housing and Community Services, AGPS, Canberra .
30.
Newman, S.J., Reschovski, J.D., Kaneda, K. & Hendricks, M.A. (1994) The effects of independent living on persons with chronic mental illness: An assessment of the Section 8 Certificate program. Milbank Quarterly, 72, 171-199.
31.
Owen, C., Rutherford, V., Jones, M., Tennant, C. & Smallman, A. (1996) Housing accommodation preferences of people with mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 47, 628-632.
32.
Paris, C. (1993) Housing Australia. Macmillan Education, South Melbourne.
33.
Press, I. & Ganey, R.F. (1989) The mail out questionnaire as the practical method of choice in patient satisfaction monitoring. Journal of Health Care Monitoring, 9, 67-68.
34.
Shepherd, G. (1995) The 'ward in house': residential care for the severely disabled. Community Mental Health Journal, 31, 53-69.
35.
Shlay, A. (1985) Castles in the sky: measuring housing and neighborhood ideology. Environment and Behaviour, 17, 593-626.
36.
Susnick, L.C. (1993) Service providers to the homeless mentally ill: Their thoughts, perceptions and recommendations for the homeless. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 2, 315-323.
37.
Tanzman, B. (1993) An overview of surveys of mental health consumers' preferences for housing and support services. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 44, 450-455.
38.
Zubin, J. & Spring, B. (1977) Vulnerability - A new view of schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 86, 103-126.
