Mind Colloquium in Collaboration with CMH this Month: Improving Housing and Recovery Outcomes

The next event in the ongoing Mind Australia Colloquium series, held in collaboration with the Centre for Mental Health and VICSERV, will be held on the 22nd of August.

The session “Improving housing and recovery outcomes for disadvantaged populations: Evidence to inform policy and practice” will be presented by Dr Vicky Stergiopoulous, the Physician-in-Chief at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Her research focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of interventions to improve housing, service integration and recovery of adults experiencing serious mental health and substance use challenges and social disadvantage.

The presentation will describe findings of a multisite randomised trial of Housing First, guiding policy and practice in many North American cities. Contrary to traditional housing models, Housing First offers immediate access to independent housing and support services, with no requirements of sobriety or acceptance of psychiatric care.

Although Housing First has been successful in improving housing stability for this disadvantaged population, other outcomes, such as quality of life, employment, and experiences of recovery have not been as robust.

Lessons learned in supporting homeless people with mental health challenges in their recovery trajectories will be discussed, including the role of brief interventions, and service providers.

The event will be held at the Mind Recovery College in Cheltenham on the 22nd of August from 12:30-2:30pm (a light lunch will be served at12:30 pm with a 1:00 pm start).

RSVP: Wednesday 17 August 2016:colloquium@mindaustralia.org.au

This is a free event. RSVP now as places are limited.

The event flyer is available to download.

More information about the Mind Australia Colloquium Series is available online.