Community Mental Health Services for Frequent Emergency Department Users: A Qualitative Study of Outcomes Perceived by Program Clients and Case Managers.

Purpose Of Study: This study aimed to investigate the perceived outcomes and mechanisms of change of a community mental health service combining system navigation and intensive case management supports for frequent emergency department users presenting with mental illness or addiction.

Primary Practice Setting: The study setting was a community mental health agency receiving automated referrals directly from hospitals in a midsize Canadian city for all individuals attending an emergency department two or more times within 30 days for mental illness or addiction.

Methodology And Sample: Qualitative interviews with 15 program clients.

An Examination of the Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation Treatment Interventions for Individuals with Severe Mental Illness: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

To evaluate the effectiveness of two different smoking cessation interventions for individuals with severe mental illness. Study participants (N = 61) randomly assigned to the SC-R group (n = 29) were offered 24 weeks of no cost Nicotine Replacement Treatment (NRT); participants assigned to the SC + group (n = 32) were offered 24 weeks of no cost NRT plus two initial individual counselling sessions of motivational interviewing and weekly psychosocial group support for 24 weeks. At 6 months the smoking cessation outcome was 7% for the SC-R group and 14% for the SC + group, but there was no statistically significant difference between the groups.

Tobacco use and smoking behaviors of individuals with a serious mental illness.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of tobacco use and overall smoking behaviors within a sample of individuals with a serious mental illness who were homeless or vulnerably housed and receiving community mental health services.

Methods: In 2010, individuals (N = 639) were interviewed, and identified smokers completed the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and additional questions related to their smoking behaviors.

Results: Tobacco use prevalence was 72%, and 62% of smokers had high or very high levels of nicotine dependence.

Housing First for Adults with Problematic Substance Use.

Objectives: This study explores the two-year housing- and non-housing-related outcomes for adults who are homeless with problematic substance use who received scattered-site housing and intensive case management services from a Housing First program in Ottawa, Canada, in comparison with a group of adults who are homeless with problematic substance use who had access to standard care in the community.

Methods: Housing First clients (n = 89) and members of a comparison group (n = 89) completed structured interviews at baseline and were followed for two years.

Results: Housing First clients moved into housing more quickly, reported a greater proportion of time housed, were more likely to spend the final six months housed, and had longer housing tenure at 24 months.

The Ottawa Citizen Engagement and Action Model (OCEAM): A Citizen engagement Strategy Operationalized Through The Participatory Research in Ottawa, Management and Point-of-care of Tobacco (PROMPT) Study: A Community Based Participatory Action Research Project in Inner City Ottawa.

Plain Language Summary: The PROMPT study is a community-based research project designed to understand the factors which affect smoking as well as ways to manage, reduce and quit smoking among people who use drugs in Ottawa. There is strong medical evidence that smoking tobacco is related to more than two dozen diseases and conditions. Smoking tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable death and has negative health impacts on people of all ages.

Factors affecting smoking cessation efforts of people with severe mental illness: a qualitative study.

Objective: People with severe mental illness are much more likely to smoke than are members of the general population. Smoking cessation interventions that combine counseling and medication have been shown to be moderately effective, but quit rates remain low and little is known about the experiences of people with severe mental illness in smoking cessation interventions. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted a qualitative study to investigate factors that help or hinder the smoking cessation efforts of people with severe mental illness.