1. Mental Health and Housing 6 th March 2015 Antonia Forte 1

2. Overview The need for change The housing and mental health interface August 2014– Prevention Through Early Intervention What’s happened since? 2

3. The need for change 1 in 4 experience mental health problems at some point 1 in 14 over 65 years and 1 in 6 over 80 years has a from of dementia 2 per cent of people will have a severe mental illness Stigmatised – 9 out of 10 people with mental health problems Not always noticeable; interrelated with other things 3

4. Housing and mental health Frequent reason for tenancy breakdown Larger proportion of people living in social housing …3 times more likely to be unhappy with housing …4 times more likely “housing makes health worse” Good housing critical to mental health and well being Lack of settled accommodation can hamper recovery Wrong type of accommodation can hamper recovery and cause problems for others Not just about finding a home/accommodation… without support – repeated problems [Source: NHF 2011] 4

5. Prevention through early intervention: Helping people with Mental Health Problems to find and keep a home” Effective Services for Vulnerable Groups Board Multi-agency/stakeholder project Nine recommendations Wales.gov.uk/topics/improvingservices/psig/nwp/effecti veservices 7

6. Assessment and evidence Take better account of the needs of people with mental health problems in Local Housing Market Assessments Improved data collection 9

7. Practice and joint working Joint working to improve housing allocation systems Supporting People Programme - better balance between fixed and floating support Training to raise awareness of dual diagnosis pathways and services Greater interaction between housing and health staff to increase mutual understanding 10

8. Piloting new approaches Greater use of “top-up” funding by Local health Boards where it can reduce demands on health services, particularly high-cost in-patient services Regional pilot of “top up” funding 11

9. So What’s Happened Since Disseminating findings Turning findings into action Turning action into change Proving it - evidence 12

10. Progress report to ESVGB on 25 th February 2015 Updates on housing included in Local Mental Health Partnership Boards annual reports from 2014 WG strengthened guidance on aspects of mental health in Allocation of Accommodation for the Homeless currently out for consultation. As from 2015/16, WG will require that CMH teams are consulted about Supporting People Commissioning plans 13

11. Progress report to ESVGB on 25 th February 2015 Innovative work at C&V and Vale of Glam has been explored further resulting in a proposal for a scheme evaluation. Key aim of evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of this project in order to learn lessons than can be applied to future service design. Evaluation to run April – Sept 2015. 13

12. Making sure this make a difference ESVG Board agreed to undertake a further perceptions survey in three years’ time to assess whether there has been a real change. 13