Demographic and mental health characteristics of individuals in the NSW Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI), Community Living Supports and HASI Plus.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the demographic characteristics associated with mental health recovery measures among individuals accessing the Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI) program over a 19-year period.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted from January 2004 to October 2023. The Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Appraisal Schedule (CANSAS) and Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS) were used as measures of mental health recovery.

Findings: A total of 2350 people with an average age of 42 years old were included. Female accounts for 46.0% of the total. The proportion of unmet needs in the CANSAS reduced from a median of 33.3% of the first follow-up to 5.8% in the 20^th follow-up. The average RAS scores were above three, indicating agree and strongly agree in all domains and improved in each follow-up. First Nations were associated with higher unmet needs in 'psychotic symptoms', 'safety to others' and 'transport' CANSAS domains, and LGBTI had reduced RAS scores in all domains.

Conclusion: HASI program engagement is associated with the reduction of unmet needs and improvement of the recovery of individuals with severe mental illness. Age, sex, gender, LGBTI, First Nations and country of birth were associated with changes in the CANSAS and RAS outcomes.