Residential Status and the Physical Health of a Mentally Ill Population

Current literature suggests that severely mentally ill individuals are at high risk for increased physical morbidity and mortality. This study considers the relationship between residential arrangements and the health status of this population. It compares the health status of 234 severely mentally ill individuals living throughout California in sheltered-care facilities, institutions, or the general community. Sheltered-care residence was found to predict positive physical health status when traditional risk factors, as well as risk factors peculiar to this population, were controlled for. The results underscore the value of sheltered-care residence for severely mentally ill individuals who need this type of care. Implications of the results are discussed

A ten-year perspective on three models of sheltered care.

Data from three surveys of California sheltered care residents and facilities were used to determine which of three models best describes the use of sheltered care by residents and the provision of services to residents between 1973 and 1983. The continuum-of-care model emphasizes a person's movement along a treatment continuum to greater independence. In the residual model, the focus is on providing habitation for a chronic population from the era before deinstitutionalization. The developmental model emphasizes providing long-term care to persons who seek supported living arrangements at a particular point in their life cycle. Results indicated that the developmental model best describes the way residents used sheltered care, while service provision was based on the continuum-of-care model. In light of these findings, it should be determined whether service provision reflects the actual needs of this population

Health and a residential care population.

This article describes the health status of 234 severely mentally ill (SMI) persons residing in California's supervised residential care facilities in 1973. Relocated in 1983, 63.2% reported their health as good to excellent. Over the follow-up period 80.8% maintained their SSI benefits, insuring them of health insurance coverage. Surprisingly the follow-up sample, believed to be at high risk of increased physical morbidity, compared quite favorably to low income subsamples of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The SMI reported better health, access to and utilization of health services. Differences were particularly striking in the poor health category with NHIS respondents reporting poor health 3.5 times more frequently than SMI sample numbers. These results offer some support for the contribution of health insurance benefits and supervised residential settings to positive health outcomes of this vulnerable population

Residential status and the physical health of a mentally ill population.

Current literature suggests that severely mentally ill individuals are at high risk for increased physical morbidity and mortality. This study considers the relationship between residential arrangements and the health status of this population. It compares the health status of 234 severely mentally ill individuals living throughout California in sheltered-care facilities, institutions, or the general community. Sheltered-care residence was found to predict positive physical health status when traditional risk factors, as well as risk factors peculiar to this population, were controlled for. The results underscore the value of sheltered-care residence for severely mentally ill individuals who need this type of care. Implications of the results are discussed