'Hopeless' given new lease on life
'Housing First' concept gives study participants a chance to focus on improving chronic challenges
By Lori Culbert, Vancouver Sun February 11, 2011
A year ago, they were among Canada's most marginalized and forgotten souls, sleeping in shelters, tents or doorways and battling demons fuelled by mental illness and drug abuse.
Today, they are sleeping in beds in their own homes, and while still facing significant challenges, many are leading healthier, safer and more productive lives.
A controversial but potentially revolutionary study into housing the mentally ill has granted exclusive access to The Vancouver Sun for a peek inside the first year of the largest project of its kind in Canadian history.
The $110-million At Home-Chez Soi study -financed by the federal government and run by the Canadian Mental Health Commission -was launched in October 2009 in five cities: Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Moncton. Vancouver's $30-million arm of the project focuses on people who also have a history of substance abuse.
While housing, especially in Vancouver, is a costly proposition, researchers hope to prove it is more fiscally and morally responsible than allowing mentally ill, drug-addicted people to continue to rely on shelters, emergency rooms and jail cells to manage their medical problems.
The goal of the project, in the words of Vancouver site coordinator Catharine Hume, is to provide hope for people traditionally thought of as hopeless through a concept called "Housing First."
Providing a home for study participants is not where this journey ends, but where it begins. Only after people are confident about where they are sleeping and what they are eating each night can they begin to focus on improving other chronic challenges, such as mental health, physical illnesses, addictions and run-ins with the law, researchers argue.
Project staff say the lives of most of the 250 people housed so far in Vancouver have begun to stabilize: Some have learned to grocery shop, vacuum or ride the bus; others are pursuing jobs; a few who were in fear of losing their children are now keeping their families together.
But among these slivers of success remain uphill battles for this group of people with such complex challenges. Something as simple as learning to sleep on a bed inside a quiet apartment can be an overwhelming adjustment for a person who was on the streets for years.
"They are the most oppressed people in Canada, and the most marginalized. These are not horrible people, but they have been living and surviving on the fringes of society," Barbara Baumgartner, one of the study's team leaders, said when asked to describe the clients she is helping.
While Baumgartner is clear the study is not a panacea that will fix every problem, she is optimistic about the changes she has seen in many participants.
"It's fantastic to see how it's going -you know intellectually what a difference housing makes -but to see it happening," she said.
Researchers have found recruits at shelters, in hospitals and on the streets, and as of last month, 446 participants in Vancouver were on board.
A full contingent of 500 volunteers is expected to be signed up by late spring.
Sadly, experts say, there is no shortage of people in Vancouver who meet the study's requirements, but recruits have been phased in at a pace that allows team leaders to properly address each one's complicated challenges.
Between today and Wednesday, The Sun will publish a five-part series on this groundbreaking study, and readers will hear from important voices in this debate, including participants such as Chris Larsen.
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Read more:
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/H...#ixzz1DjHoz5cY
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