Major mental illness, housing, and supports. The promise of community integration

Abstract

Providing housing and supports for people with psychiatric disabilities, particularly those who are homeless, is a major public policy challenge. This article summarizes the ways in which the concept of these needs is rapidly shifting in the mental health field. The article is based on research on the effectiveness of non-facility-based community support and rehabilitation approaches, the findings of other disability fields, and the emergence of mental health consumers' own preferences for expanded choices, normal housing, and more responsive services, including consumer-operated services. These new sources of knowledge are facilitating a paradigm shift in which people with psychiatric disabilities are no longer seen as hopeless, or merely as service recipients, but rather as citizens with a capacity for full community participation and integration.