Suchergebnisse

Introduction: Homelessness is as large political question globally as it is in Sweden with a growing number of homeless. "Housing First" is a municipality based program aiming to offer stable and enduring housing to homeless people immediately. This model was imported to Sweden and was tried in Stockholm and Helsingborg, a provincial town in the southwest of Sweden. This prevailing study is to test the feasibility of making longitudinal studies on homeless individuals. Method: A longitudinal study using repeated measures of selfreports on questionnaires. Result: This study report results from baseline and a 24 month follow-up of the program compared to a treatment-as-usual control group. It was shown that although the former homeless in the Housing First group perceived an increased housing normality and empowerment there were no significant differences between groups across time. Conclusion: Although individuals living in a Housing First apartment tended to have a more normal way to live they seem to not improve psychologically. However some problems that is connected to longitudinal research on the homeless was detected. Since Housing First is a program consisting of housing and support the effect is dependent on both. The null result in this study was discussed as a consequence of foremost insufficient support in housing.

This article discusses special category housing for homeless addicts, based on case studies of two different housing programmes and using both qualitative and quantitative data. The staff and residents were interviewed about their experiences of the programmes. Longitudinal data were collected on various indicators of substance misuse and the frequency of contact with the social services at different levels. Our findings show that special category housing has positive direct effects on the housing stability of the residents and their feelings regarding their quality of life, but not on their substance misuse. However, the increased housing stability seems to be more a direct effect of their staying on the programme, rather than a long‐term effect. Furthermore, although their quality of life improves, the residents still experience a lack of belonging and feel that their lives lack meaningful content. The choice of special category housing as an intervention model thus seems to perpetuate rather than prevent social exclusion and can possibly be described as an expression of 'institutionalised resignation'.