How do Mental Health Supported Accommodation Services Contribute to the Rehabilitation Care Pathway?

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Specialist mental health supported accommodation services form an essential component in the whole-system care pathway for people with complex and long term mental health problems in the UK, but have been, historically, under researched. Trials in this area are extremely difficult to undertake for a host of logistic reasons. The QuEST (Quality and Effectiveness of Supported Tenancies for people with mental health problems) study, a five year research programme that commenced in 2012 funded by the National Institute for Health Research, is attempting to address this. As a researcher working on the QuEST programme, I have noted that some providers have different levels of 'step-down' accommodation for service users to move on to as they recover skills for more independent living, whereas others offer one level of support and service users have to move to another provider when they are ready to manage with less support. This aspect of service configuration has not been investigated within the QuEST study. Given the current economic climate and the pressures on social care and housing, research that can inform service planners of the most effective models of specialist mental health supported accommodation is paramount. I propose here a 1+3 studentship to investigate the effectiveness of the 'in-house step-down' model. Using a prospective, cohort study design, I will compare the successful move on rate of these services with those where service users are supported to move between providers.