Homeless Population and Mental Health: Impact of Primer la Llar Program

Homeless Population and Mental Health: Impact of Primer la Llar Program

The main goal is to evaluate the impact of the Primer La Llar housing program for the homeless population on the mental health of the participants.

The hypothesis is that the housing program, which follows Housing first model, for the homeless population has a positive impact on the mental health of the participants, compared to the group that does not receive the intervention -treatment as usual group (meaning the "positive impact" a lower score on the symptomatology scales and lower toxic intake in the group receiving the intervention).

The specific objectives are:

Identify the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants.

Compare the severity of psychiatric symptoms and improvement among the participants in the intervention group and the control group (depressive, anxious, psychotic or manic symptomatology, depending on the case).

Compare the consumption of alcohol and drugs among the participants of both groups.

Compare the basic daily life skills among the participants in both groups, as well as the improvement of them in the experimental group.

Compare the use of services and between the participants of the intervention group and the control group.

Intervention group receives entry to the program (which means individual and permanent housing without previous requirements such as abstinence, compliance with treatment or sobriety.

Control group receives treatment as usual, as they are users of homeless population network of Barcelona.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Single people, adults (exceptionally sentimental couples, friends with positive support relationship for both).
• Long life on the street (minimum 1 year staying overnight on the street) and / or accommodation centers without linking, using them in a timely manner in the last year.
• Social needs concurrent to the lack of housing: mental illness and / or drug abuse.
• Functional autonomy for daily life.
• Have regular economic income or possibility of obtaining them.
• Sign informed consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

• language barrier
• severe neurological or organic pathology
• severe dementia
• alcoholic dementia Wernicke Korsakoff