[A Standard of Centers for Community Psychiatry in Lower-Saxonia - Checklist and Model Fidelity Scale]. / Ein Standard für Gemeindepsychiatrische Zentren in Niedersachsen ­ Checkliste und Modelltreueskala.

OBJECTIVE: Definition of a standard for structures and processes of Centers for Community Psychiatry (CCP) that aim at providing mobile, multiprofessional, complex and intensive outpatient care to patients with severe mental illness. METHODS: The standard was developed and consented using a mix-method approach and by involving all relevant stakeholders, including first hand experts and service providers of three CCP model-projects in Lower-Saxonia. RESULTS: The standard comprises a checklist with 12 binary and obligatory CCP features as well as a model fidelity scale with 45 scaled items in 9 dimensions. CONCLUSION: For the first time, a CCP-standard is available that offers a quantifiable and verifiable catalogue of features essential for CCPs. The standard orients at the S3 guideline "Psychosocial Therapies".

Effectiveness of supported housing versus residential care in severe mental illness: a multicenter, quasi-experimental study.

PURPOSE: Up to now there are only few studies and no RCT comparing efficacy or effectiveness of supported housing (SH) versus residential care (RC) in severe mental illness (SMI) without homelessness. Here we present an observational follow-up study in SMI subjects, who entered SH or RC, to compare clinical and functional outcomes 2 years later. METHODS: In this prospective study in more than 30 locations throughout a German federal state, we included SMI subjects, who entered SH (n = 153) or RC (n = 104). About one quarter suffered from each substance use, psychotic, affective, or other disorders. To avoid sampling bias, we used the propensity score matching method to establish a quasi-experimental design. Outcome measures were social functioning (SFS), the number of psychiatric hospitalisations, psychopathology (SCL-9-K), and quality of life (MANSA). Apart from descriptive methods we analysed primarily using repeated-measures ANOVAS. RESULTS: Our analyses revealed significant effects of time for all outcomes in both study groups. However, there were not any group differences of outcome measures, i.e., not any significant effects of group or interactional effects of group x time. Moreover, these results hold true for intent-to-treat and per-protocol sample analyses. CONCLUSION: The results show, that SH and RC for non-homeless people with SMI achieve the same clinical and psychosocial outcomes across a 2-year period. Taking into account the users' preferences, the present findings should give reason to ensure the availability of affordable housing and to support the expansion of supported housing approaches.

[Supported Housing - Development and Validation of the "Supported Housing Fidelity Scale" for People With Mental Health Problems]. / Selbstbestimmtes Wohnen mit Unterstützung ­ Entwicklung und Überprüfung der "Modelltreueskala Selbstbestimmtes Wohnen (MSSW)" für Menschen mit psychischen Beeinträchtigungen.

OBJECTIVE: For supported accommodation settings in mental health care, there is no comprehensive list of criteria for German-speaking countries available. The development and testing of a fidelity scale for independent housing is described. METHODS: By means of a cross-country cooperation a fidelity scale was developed and was utilized in interviews with heads of 87 housing services and institutions in Germany and Switzerland. RESULTS: The fidelity scale consists of 31 items in 4 topic fields. Outreach services demonstrated a slightly higher fidelity compared to residential care. This was particularly true for the topic fields 'Housing conditions' and 'Inclusion orientation'. We found not differences in the topic fields 'Staff/team' and 'Support conditions'. CONCLUSIONS: With this fidelity scale there is a testable list of criteria for independent housing services in mental health care available for the first time in German-speaking countries.