Recovery and quality of life among residents in supported housing

Services for persons with substance use and mental health problems are recommended to support recovery and quality of life. In Norway, municipalities assist persons with co-occurring substance use and mental health problems in finding housing. Some persons rent apartments in supported housing services with associated staff support. Despite the emphasis on recovery and quality of life on a policy level, there is limited knowledge about how residents in supported housing subjectively evaluate their recovery, quality of life, and associated contextual issues which may be of importance to well-being in everyday life. 

The main project
A mixed-methods research project, entitled “From double trouble to dual recovery: Increasing recovery-oriented services and quality of life through collaborative partnership”*, based at the Centre for Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), in collaboration with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), and residents and staff at a supported housing site. Through employing a collaborative action research methodology, USN will lead the development of principles for recovery-oriented rehabilitation in a supported housing context. The project has a competency group consisting of residents, staff and researchers. 

Quantitative study
As a part of the main project, a PhD project based on quantitative methods is carried out at NMBU. The aim of the quantitative study is to examine self-reported recovery, quality of life, staff support, citizenship and engagement in meaningful activities among residents who live in municipal supported housing in Norway. The quantitative study employs a questionnaire format. It focuses on personal and social recovery, and issues within and external to supported housing. 

1) Cross-sectional substudy
The aim of the cross-sectional substudy is to map and examine recovery and quality of life and associates issues among residents in supported housing. The cross-sectional substudy was carried out at multiple housing sites in large cities across Norway.

2) Prospective longitudinal substudy
The aim of the prospective longitudinal study is to measure possible changes or consistencies in recovery and quality of life for residents in supported housing over time. It is conducted with residents at the supported housing site where there is an ongoing effort pertaining to recovery-orientation, before, during and after the development and introduction of recovery-oriented rehabilitation principles into everyday practice. The substudy also has a reference group consisting of residents at similar supported housing sites. 

Funding
The project is funded by the Research Council of Norway (NFR) program "Behandling".

Project website
https://www.usn.no/forskning/prosjekter/from-double-trouble-to-dual-recovery/recoveryorientert-rehabilitering-ror/

Contact
linda.nesse@nmbu.no / 004741613687
ruth.raanaas@nmbu.no / 004767231268