TY  - RPRT
AU  - Robinson, Catherine
CY  - Melbourne
L1  - internal-pdf://2267385931/AHURI_Final_Report_No045_Understanding_iterati.pdf
M1  - 70072 
M3  - FR
N1  - Robinson‘s study aims to investigate the accommodation histories and personal biographies of homeless people experiencing mental illness in Sydney and Brisbane. This study surveyed 185 people with mental disorders and conducted 28 in-depth interviews, focusing on extracting a detailed account of participant‘s accommodation histories. There were a higher proportion of men in this sample, as 60 per cent of participants were male and 40 per cent were female. This study situates itself within current policy initiatives which aim to develop and implement ‗whole-of-government‘ responses to homelessness.
The key findings for this project relate to the relationship between poor levels of mental health, personal trauma and itinerant homelessness. It was found that people who are experiencing homelessness and mental disorders have highly complex life experiences that are characterised by exclusion. They experience unsafe and unstable accommodation, poor education, poor general health, low incomes and high imprisonment rates. Also, prior to current homeless predicaments, participants were likely to have experienced high levels of personal trauma ranging from: domestic violence, relationship breakdowns, deaths of friends and family members, incest, abuse, assault and accidents. These types of trauma were also repeated during itinerant homelessness.
Once compounded, these traumas are able to have severe, negative impacts on management of personal mental health and housing condition. The short term stable, long term unstable nature of mental disorders was found to contribute to the inability to sustain housing. For example, participants with severe mental disorders found it difficult to keep employment for long periods of time, also, once housed their mental health had an impact on their ability to be a cohesive tenant. From a service provision perspective Robinson found that there was a high level of institutional neglect of people experiencing mental health issues and homelessness and there was a lack of appropriate housing options for people experiencing mental disorders.
One of the important directions that Robinson and her findings pursue is the influence of past and present trauma on the mentally ill and homeless population, specifically, those who are cycling in and out of different stages of homelessness. The level of trauma, existence of mental health issues and homelessness create complex needs in these individuals, who as a product of these experiences require an intensive level of tailored care. One of the most pertinent comments from the participants in Robinson‘s

study is ―I‘ve got 33 years of my life to work through!‖ This comment identifies that homelessness, particularly long term homelessness, which has a higher chance of being punctuated with experiences of rough sleeping, needs intensive care and hard work from both the individual and service providers in order to try and resolve it. As a response to this issue, Robinson suggests that the implementation of stability in the lives of iterative homeless and higher levels of integrated support form housing, mental health care coupled with long term, one-to-one case work based service provision is necessary.

NV  - 70072 
PB  - Australian Housing and Urban ÂþÌìÌÃÈë¿Ú Institute Limited
PY  - 2003
RP  - Robinson‘s study aims to investigate the accommodation histories and personal biographies of homeless people experiencing mental illness in Sydney and Brisbane. This study surveyed 185 people with mental disorders and conducted 28 in-depth interviews, focusing on extracting a detailed account of participant‘s accommodation histories. There were a higher proportion of men in this sample, as 60 per cent of participants were male and 40 per cent were female. This study situates itself within current policy initiatives which aim to develop and implement ‗whole-of-government‘ responses to homelessness.
The key findings for this project relate to the relationship between poor levels of mental health, personal trauma and itinerant homelessness. It was found that people who are experiencing homelessness and mental disorders have highly complex life experiences that are characterised by exclusion. They experience unsafe and unstable accommodation, poor education, poor general health, low incomes and high imprisonment rates. Also, prior to current homeless predicaments, participants were likely to have experienced high levels of personal trauma ranging from: domestic violence, relationship breakdowns, deaths of friends and family members, incest, abuse, assault and accidents. These types of trauma were also repeated during itinerant homelessness.
Once compounded, these traumas are able to have severe, negative impacts on management of personal mental health and housing condition. The short term stable, long term unstable nature of mental disorders was found to contribute to the inability to sustain housing. For example, participants with severe mental disorders found it difficult to keep employment for long periods of time, also, once housed their mental health had an impact on their ability to be a cohesive tenant. From a service provision perspective Robinson found that there was a high level of institutional neglect of people experiencing mental health issues and homelessness and there was a lack of appropriate housing options for people experiencing mental disorders.
One of the important directions that Robinson and her findings pursue is the influence of past and present trauma on the mentally ill and homeless population, specifically, those who are cycling in and out of different stages of homelessness. The level of trauma, existence of mental health issues and homelessness create complex needs in these individuals, who as a product of these experiences require an intensive level of tailored care. One of the most pertinent comments from the participants in Robinson‘s

study is ―I‘ve got 33 years of my life to work through!‖ This comment identifies that homelessness, particularly long term homelessness, which has a higher chance of being punctuated with experiences of rough sleeping, needs intensive care and hard work from both the individual and service providers in order to try and resolve it. As a response to this issue, Robinson suggests that the implementation of stability in the lives of iterative homeless and higher levels of integrated support form housing, mental health care coupled with long term, one-to-one case work based service provision is necessary.

ST  - Understanding iterative homelessness: the case of people with mental disorders
T2  - ÂþÌìÌÃÈë¿ÚFinal Report No. 45
TI  - Understanding iterative homelessness: the case of people with mental disorders
UR  - /research/final-reports/45
ID  - 7
ER  -