The Northern Healthcare model of enhanced supported living

Abstract

This article explains the need for many people with serious and enduring mental ill health, who are in receipt of community mental health care, to receive support with housing and activities of daily living. The article goes on to argue that those in this population deserve to be recognised as autonomous tenants in their accommodation, rather than as ‘patients receiving support’. This is an important distinction as although many people with long-term mental ill health are discharged from hospital to ‘supported accommodation’, in practice this often means that the landlord is just a landlord and property owner and nothing more, and that the ‘support’ received is often minimal. This article describes a UK-wide network of ‘enhanced supported living’ facilities that has been developed to meet the needs that will inevitably arise with this population. Because of the presence of this infrastructure, the responsible clinicians and commissioners can be confident that the tenant is being provided with an optimum level of support and that an agreed support plan is in place that addresses all identified needs. Communication with clinicians and commissioners is facilitated by a bespoke IT system. In addition, each tenant is assessed, in respect of met and unmet needs, quality of life and other important variables. The resulting datasets are being collated and analysed, with the intention of publishing long-term outcomes. The outcome data will be unique, as research on this topic has been very limited.