Centre for Health Promotion Research (CHPR)

Funded by: Mental Health Commission of Canada
Years: 2009-2013
There are approximately 40 investigators from across Canada and the U.S involved in this project, including Dr. Jim Frankish from our Centre for Health Promotion Research, who is the Vancouver Co-Lead Principal Investigator with Dr. Michael Krausz and Dr. Julian Somers.

Objective: This is a longitudinal, quasi-randomized community study with treatments and housing options nested within five Canadian cities (Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Moncton). It is designed to explore ways to help homeless people who have mental health issues. The study draws on an approach called Housing First, which is a recovery-oriented approach that gives people who are homeless and living with mental health issues immediate access to permanent, independent housing through rent subsidies and mental health services and supports.

Click here to go to the Mental Health Commission of Canada website for more information on the project.

Selected, peer-reviewed publications authored or co-authored by members of the Vancouver team (underlined), beginning with the most recent publication:

1. Palepu A, Patterson ML, Moniruzzaman A, Frankish CJ and Somers J (2013). Housing First improves residential stability in homeless adults with concurrent substance dependence and mental disorders. American Journal of Public Health 103(s2):e30-e36. Click here to go to the journal website.
2. Kidd SA, Virdee G, Krupa T, Burnham D, Hemingway D, Margolin I, Patterson M, and Zabkiewicz Denise (2013). The role of gender in housing for individuals with severe mental illness: A qualitative study of the Canadian service context. BMJ Open 3:6 e002914. Click here to go to the journal website.
3. Nelson G, Macnaughton E, Goering P, Dudley M, O’Campo P, Patterson M, Piat M, Prévost N, Strehlau V, and Vallée C (2013). Planning a multi-site, complex intervention for homeless people with mental illness: The relationships between the national team and local sites in Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi Project. American Journal of Community Psychology 51 (3-4):347-358. Click here to go to the journal website.
4. Patterson M, Moniruzzaman A, Palepu A, Zabkiewicz D, Frankish CJ, Krausz M, and Somers JM (2013). Housing First improves subjective quality of life among homeless adults with mental illness: 12-month findings from a randomized controlled trial in Vancouver, British Columbia. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 48(8):1245-1259. Click here to go to the journal website.
5. Adair CE, Holland AC, Patterson ML, Mason KS, Goering PN, and Hwang SW (2012). Cognitive interviewing methods for questionnaire pre-testing in homeless persons with mental disorders. Journal of Urban Health 89(1):36-52. Click here to go to the journal website.
6. Palepu A, Patterson M, Strehlau V, Moniruzzamen A, Tan de Bibiana J, Frankish J, Krausz M, and Somers J (2012). Daily substance use and mental health symptoms among a cohort of homeless adults in Vancouver, British Columbia. Journal of Urban Health 1-7. Click here to go to the journal website.
7. Patterson ML, Markey MA, and Somers JM (2012). Multiple paths to just ends: Using narrative interviews and timelines to explore health equity and homelessness. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 11(2):132-151. Click here to go to the journal website.
8. Patterson ML, Moniruzzaman A, Frankish CJ and Somers JM (2012). Missed opportunities: Childhood learning disabilities as early indicators of risk among homeless adults with mental illness in Vancouver, British Columbia. BMJ Open 2:6 e001586. Click here to go to the journal website.
9. Patterson ML, Somers JM, and Moniruzzaman A (2012). Prolonged and persistent homelessness: Multivariable analyses in a cohort experiencing current homelessness and mental illness in Vancouver, British Columbia. Mental Health and Substance Use 5(2):85-101. Click here to go to the journal website.
10. Zabkiewicz DM, Patterson M, Somers JM and Frankish J (2012). The Vancouver At Home Study: Overview and methods of a Housing First trial among individuals who are homeless and living with mental illness. Journal of Clinical Trials 2:4 1000123. Click here to go to the journal website.
11. Goering PN, Streiner DL, Adair C, Aubry T, Barker J, Distasio J, Hwang SW, Komaroff J, Latimer E, Somers J, and Zabkiewicz DM (2011). The At Home/Chez Soi trial protocol: A pragmatic, multi-site, randomised controlled trial of a Housing First intervention for homeless individuals with mental illness in five Canadian cities. BMJ Open 1:e000323. Click here to go to the journal website.