Client-level Measures of Services Integration Among Chronically Homeless Adults |
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Authors: | Alvin S Mares Greg A Greenberg " target="_blank">Robert A Rosenheck |
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Institution: | (1) College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, 325Q Stillman Hall, 1947 College Rd, Columbus, OH 43210, USA;(2) Northeast Program Evaluation Center, VAMC, West Haven, CT, USA;(3) Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA;(4) VA New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, New Haven, CT, USA;(5) Yale University School of Epidemiology and Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA |
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Abstract: | Introduction While several major studies have examined services integration at the system or interagency level, there has been far less
effort to measure the integration of services at the client-level and its correlates.
Methods This study presents three client-level measures of services integration, two objective measures, representing the proportion
of needed services received and the number of outpatient services received by each client, and one subjective measure, a five-item
scale measuring perceived coordination of care among clients’ service providers. Data from the evaluation of the collaborative
initiative to help end chronic homelessness (CICH) are used to examine bivariate and multivariate relationships of these three
client-level measures to two system-level measures of services integration, one addressing interagency services coordination/planning
and the other interagency trust/respect as well as to baseline client characteristics among 734 chronically homeless adults
in 11 cities.
Results Client-level measures of service integration were not strongly associated to each other or to the system-level measures, except
for weak associations (r = 0.10) between one objective client measure and the system-level measure of service coordination and planning, and another
between client-level use of outpatient mental health services and system-level trust and respect. Multivariate analysis showed
that clients who received a greater array of needed services received more service overall and were more likely to have a
diagnosis of PTSD and more medical problems, but less serious alcohol problems. Clients who reported more outpatient mental
health and substance abuse visits were significantly more likely to be married, to be veterans, to have more serious drug
problems, and to be dually diagnosed. Clients with more serious drug problems reported poorer coordination among their service
providers on the subjective measure of client-level service integration.
Conclusion Three client-level measures of services integration were, at best, weakly associated with measures of system-level integration.
Positive associations between client-level measures of integration and health status, outpatient service use and negative
relationships with indicators of substance abuse suggest they may usefully represent the experiences of chronically homeless
clients, even though they are not strongly related to system-level measures. |
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Keywords: | Homelessness Mental illness Substance abuse Services integration |
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