Vital Needs of Dutch Homeless Service Users: Responsiveness of Local Services in the Light of Health Equity.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare and social services aim to ensure health equity for all users. Despite ongoing efforts, marginalized populations remain underserved. The Dutch HOP-TR study intends to expand knowledge on how to enable the recovery of homeless service users. METHODS: A naturalistic meta-snowball sampling resulted in a representative sample of homeless services (N = 16) and users (N = 436). Interviews collected health and needs from user and professional perspectives in a comprehensive, rights-based ecosystem strategy. We calculated the responsiveness to needs in four domains (mental health, physical health, paid work, and administration). RESULTS: Most service users were males (81%) with a migration background (52%). In addition to physical (78%) and mental health needs (95%), the low education level (89%) and functional illiteracy (57%) resulted in needs related to paid work and administration support. Most had vital needs in three or four domains (77%). The availability of matching care was extremely low. For users with needs in two domains, met needs ranged from 0.6-13.1%. Combined needs (>2 domains) were hardly met. CONCLUSIONS: Previous research demonstrated the interdependent character of health needs. This paper uncovers some causes of health inequity. The systematic failure of local services to meet integrating care needs demonstrates the urgency to expand recovery-oriented implementation strategies with health equity in mind.

A Comprehensive Assessment to Enable Recovery of the Homeless: The HOP-TR Study.

Background: Homelessness is an increasing problem in Western European countries. In the Netherlands, policy reforms and austerity measures induced an urgent need for management information on local homeless citizens. Municipal authorities initiated cross-sectional reviews of Homeless Service (HS) users. The resulting Homeless People Treatment and Recovery (HOP-TR) study developed a health and needs assessment strategy over different domains to comprehensively assess individuals and care networks with the perspective on recovery. Methods: Dutch HS users were selected using a naturalistic meta-snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews provided the primary data source. The interview content was partly derived from the InterRAI Community Mental Health questionnaire and the "Homelessness Supplement." Using the raw interview data, algorithmic summary scores were computed and integrating clinical parameters assessed. The data describe health and needs in a rights-based, recovery-oriented frame of reference. The mental health approach is transdiagnostic. The positive health framework is used for structuring health and needs aspects in relation to the symptomatic (physical and mental health), social (daily living, social participation), and personal (quality of life, meaning) dimensions of recovery. Results: Recruitment (between 2015 and 2017) resulted in a saturated sample of 436 HS users in 16 facilities and seven cities. Most participants were long-term or intermittently homeless. The sample characteristics reveal the multi domain character of needs and the relevance of a broad, comprehensive approach. Local authorities used the reports to reflect and discuss needs, care provision, access, and network cooperation. These dialogs incited to improve the quality of care at various ecosystem levels. Discussion: This paper describes new recruitment strategies and data collections of comprehensive data domains, to improve our knowledge in the field of homelessness. Traditional epidemiological literature on homelessness is often domain specific and relies on administrative sources. The HOP-TR study uses an analytical epidemiological approach. It shifts the assessment focus from problem-centered marginalization processes toward a comprehensive, three-dimensional recovery-oriented vision of health. Different perspectives are integrated to explore the interaction of homeless people with care networks.

Health Patterns Reveal Interdependent Needs of Dutch Homeless Service Users.

Background: Homelessness is an increasing problem in Western European countries. Dutch local authorities initiated cross-sectional reviews to obtain accurate health and needs information on Homeless Service (HS) users. Methods: The Homeless People Treatment and Recovery (HOP-TR) study uses a comprehensive assessment strategy to obtain health data. Using a naturalistic meta-snowball sampling in 2015-2017, 436 Dutch HS users were assessed. The lived experience of HS users was the primary data source and was enriched with professional assessments. The InterRAI Community Mental Health questionnaire and "Homelessness Supplement" provided information in different areas of life. The approach for mental health assessments was transdiagnostic. Raw interview data were recoded to assess health and needs. The positive health framework structured symptomatic, social, and personal health domains relevant to recovery. Results: Most subjects were males, low educated, with a migration background. The majority were long-term or intermittently homeless. Concurrent health problems were present in two domains or more in most (95.0%) subjects. Almost all participants showed mental health problems (98.6%); for a significant share severe (72.5%). Frequent comorbid conditions were addiction (78%), chronic physical conditions (59.2%), and intellectual impairments (39.9%). Conclusion: The HOP-TR study reveals significant concurrent health problems among Dutch HS users. The interdependent character of different needs requires an integrated 3-D public health approach to comprehensively serve symptomatic, social, and personal dimensions, required to facilitate recovery.

The interRAI Suite of Mental Health Assessment Instruments: An Integrated System for the Continuum of Care.

The lives of persons living with mental illness are affected by psychological, biological, social, economic, and environmental factors over the life course. It is therefore unlikely that simple preventive strategies, clinical treatments, therapeutic interventions, or policy options will succeed as singular solutions for the challenges of mental illness. Persons living with mental illness receive services and supports in multiple settings across the health care continuum that are often fragmented, uncoordinated, and inadequately responsive. Appropriate assessment is an important tool that health systems must deploy to respond to the strengths, preferences, and needs of persons with mental illness. However, standard approaches are often focused on measurement of psychiatric symptoms without taking a broader perspective to address issues like growth, development, and aging; physical health and disability; social relationships; economic resources; housing; substance use; involvement with criminal justice; stigma; and recovery. Using conglomerations of instruments to cover more domains is impractical, inconsistent, and incomplete while posing considerable assessment burden. interRAI mental health instruments were developed by a network of over 100 researchers, clinicians, and policy experts from over 35 nations. This includes assessment systems for adults in inpatient psychiatry, community mental health, emergency departments, mobile crisis teams, and long-term care settings, as well as a screening system for police officers. A similar set of instruments is available for child/youth mental health. The instruments form an integrated mental health information system because they share a common assessment language, conceptual basis, clinical emphasis, data collection approach, data elements, and care planning protocols. The key applications of these instruments include care planning, outcome measurement, quality improvement, and resource allocation. The composition of these instruments and psychometric properties are reviewed, and examples related to homeless are used to illustrate the various applications of these assessment systems.