The effectiveness of a Housing First adaptation for ethnic minority groups: findings of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Background: Little is known about the effectiveness of Housing First (HF) among ethnic minority groups, despite its growing popularity for homeless adults experiencing mental illness. This randomized controlled trial tests the effectiveness of a HF program using rent supplements and intensive case management, enhanced by anti-racism and anti-oppression practices for homeless adults with mental illness from diverse ethnic minority backgrounds.

Methods: This unblinded pragmatic field trial was carried out in community settings in Toronto, Canada.

Construct Validity of the SF-12v2 for the Homeless Population with Mental Illness: An Instrument to Measure Self-Reported Mental and Physical Health.

Background: Self-reported health measures are important indicators used by clinicians and researchers for the evaluation of health interventions, outcome assessment of clinical studies, and identification of health needs to improve resource allocation. However, the application of self-reported health measures relies on developing reliable and valid instruments that are suitable across diverse populations. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the construct validity of the SF-12v.

Effectiveness of Housing First with Intensive Case Management in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Homeless Adults with Mental Illness: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Unlabelled: Housing First (HF) is being widely disseminated in efforts to end homelessness among homeless adults with psychiatric disabilities. This study evaluates the effectiveness of HF with Intensive Case Management (ICM) among ethnically diverse homeless adults in an urban setting. 378 participants were randomized to HF with ICM or treatment-as-usual (TAU) in Toronto (Canada), and followed for 24 months.

Differential experiences of discrimination among ethnoracially diverse persons experiencing mental illness and homelessness.

Background: This mixed methods study explored the characteristics of and experiences with perceived discrimination in an ethnically diverse urban sample of adults experiencing homelessness and mental illness.

Methods: Data were collected in Toronto, Ontario, as part of a 4-year national randomized field trial of the Housing First treatment model. Rates of perceived discrimination were captured from survey questions regarding perceived discrimination among 231 ethnoracially diverse participants with moderate mental health needs.

Different faces of discrimination: perceived discrimination among homeless adults with mental illness in healthcare settings.

Background: Research on discrimination in healthcare settings has primarily focused on health implications of race-based discrimination among ethno-racial minority groups. Little is known about discrimination experiences of other marginalized populations, particularly groups facing multiple disadvantages who may be subjected to other/multiple forms of discrimination.

Objectives: (1) To examine the prevalence of perceived discrimination due to homelessness/poverty, mental illness/alcohol/drug related problems, and race/ethnicity/skin color while seeking healthcare in the past year among racially diverse homeless adults with mental illness; (2) To identify whether perceiving certain types of discrimination is associated with increased likelihood of perceiving other kinds of discrimination; and (3) To examine association of these perceived discrimination experiences with socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported measures of psychiatric symptomatology and substance use, and Emergency Department utilization.