Trial reportBMC public health2019
A randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of Housing First in a small Canadian City.
Trial report in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Targeted interventions to improve the social and economic circumstances of people with mental ill-health from marginalised communities: a systematic review.Psychological medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Patient and Public Involvement in Research Evaluating Integrated Care for People Experiencing Homelessness: Findings From the PHOENIx Community Pharmacy Pilot Randomised-Controlled Trial.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Trial
- Housing and supportive services for substance use and self-efficacy among young mothers experiencing homelessness: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2023Trial
- Assertive Community Treatment and ACT-Derived Outreach Models: A Scoping Review of Adaptations, Fidelity and Outcomes.Community mental health journal · 2026Article
- The effectiveness of abstinence-based and harm reduction-based interventions in reducing problematic substance use in adults who are experiencing homelessness in high income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis: A systematic review.Campbell systematic reviews · 2024Review
- The impacts of housing conditions on physical and mental health - A mini-review informed by a rapid conversion of evidence from Alidoust and Huang (2021).Frontiers in environmental health · 2024Article
- Homelessness and mortality: gender, age, and housing status inequity in Korea.Epidemiology and health · 2024Article
- Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Housing First for Youth Intervention for Youth Experiencing Homelessness in Canada: Protocol for a Multisite, Mixed Methods Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2023Article
- Exploring the effect of case management in homelessness per components: A systematic review of effectiveness and implementation, with meta-analysis and thematic synthesis.Campbell systematic reviews · 2023Review
- Experience delivering an integrated service model to people with criminal justice system involvement and housing insecurity.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Article
- Public Health Interventions to Address Housing and Mental Health amongst Migrants from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds Living in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Article
- Self-harm in people experiencing homelessness: investigation of incidence, characteristics and outcomes using data from the Multicentre Study of Self-Harm in England.BJPsych open · 2022Article
- Models of Care of Schizophrenia in the Community-An International Perspective.Current psychiatry reports · 2022Review
- Community-based social interventions for people with severe mental illness: a systematic review and narrative synthesis of recent evidence.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2022Article
- A comprehensive review of prioritised interventions to improve the health and wellbeing of persons with lived experience of homelessness.Campbell systematic reviews · 2021Review
- The intersection of housing and mental well-being: Examining the needs of formerly homeless young adults transitioning to stable housing.SSM - population health · 2021Article
- Mental Healthcare Utilization among Homeless People in the Greater Paris Area.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe paper presents two-year findings from a study investigating the effectiveness of Housing First (HF) with assertive community treatment (ACT) in helping individuals with serious mental illness, who are homeless or precariously housed and living in a small city, to become stably housed.
methodsThe research design was a parallel group non-blinded RCT with participants randomly assigned after the baseline interview to receive HF with ACT (N = 100) or treatment as usual (TAU; N = 101). Participants were interviewed every 3 months over 21/24 months to investigate changes on a range of housing and psychosocial outcomes. The primary outcomes were housing stability (as defined by a joint function of number of days housed and number of moves) and improvement in community functioning. Secondary predicted outcomes were improvements in self-rated physical and mental health status, substance use problems, quality of life, community integration, and recovery.
resultsAn intent-to-treat analysis was conducted. Compared to TAU participants, HF participants who entered housing did so more quickly (23.30 versus 88.25 days, d = 1.02, 95% CI [0.50-1.53], p < 0.001), spent a greater proportion of time stably housed (Z = 5.30, p < 0.001, OR = 3.12, 95% CI [1.96-4.27]), and rated the quality of their housing more positively (Z = 4.59, p < 0.001, d = 0.43, 95% CI [0.25-0.62]). HF participants were also more likely to be housed continually in the final 6 months (i.e., 79.57% vs. 55.47%), χ
conclusionsThe study indicates that HF ends homelessness significantly more rapidly than TAU for a majority of individuals with serious mental illness who have a history of homelessness and live in a small city. In addition, compared to TAU, HF produces psychosocial benefits for its recipients that include an enhanced quality of life, a greater sense of belonging in the community, and greater improvements in perceived recovery from mental illness.
trial registrationInternational Standard Randomized Control Trial Number Register Identifier: ISRCTN42520374 , assigned August 18, 2009.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.