Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39739599›Full record

ArticleHealth services research2025

The effect of a Veterans Affairs rapid rehousing and homelessness prevention program on long-term housing instability.

Alec B Chapman, Daniel Scharfstein, Thomas Byrne, Ann Elizabeth Montgomery, Ying Suo, Atim Effiong, Christa Shorter, Sophia Huebler, Tom Greene, Jack Tsai and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Observational
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Studying Veteran food insecurity longitudinally using electronic health record data and natural language processing.AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science proceedings. AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Alec B ChapmanIDEAS Center, Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3711-2682
Daniel ScharfsteinDepartment of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Thomas ByrneNational Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, Washington, DC, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4824-0284
Ann Elizabeth MontgomeryNational Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, Washington, DC, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4420-3526
Ying SuoIDEAS Center, Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Atim EffiongIDEAS Center, Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Christa ShorterIDEAS Center, Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Sophia HueblerIDEAS Center, Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Tom GreeneDepartment of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Jack TsaiNational Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, Washington, DC, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0329-648X
Lillian GelbergNational Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, Washington, DC, USA.
Stefan G KerteszNational Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, Washington, DC, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6101-8421
Richard E NelsonIDEAS Center, Veterans Affairs Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

Funding

HSRD VA I01 HX002425HSRD VA I50 HX001240VA Health Services Research and Development Service HX002425VA Health Services Research and Development Service I50HX001240
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo evaluate the effect of enrolling in Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) on short- and long-term housing outcomes among Veterans experiencing housing instability. STUDY SETTING AND

designWe analyzed data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) electronic health record (EHR) between October 2015 and December 2018 using the target trial emulation framework. Veterans were included in one or more trials if they were 18 years or older, had recent evidence of housing instability, had received care in VA for at least 1 year, and had never before enrolled in SSVF. Patients who enrolled in SSVF after meeting eligibility were assigned to the treatment group, while patients who did not enroll in SSVF were assigned to a control group. We extracted patients' housing outcomes from the EHR and modeled the probability of being unstably housed each day while accounting for confounders and irregular visit times. DATA SOURCES AND ANALYTIC SAMPLE: We extracted housing status and covariates from the VA Corporate Data Warehouse. Housing instability was ascertained using a combination of structured data elements and natural language processing. PRINCIPAL

findingsWe identified 238,059 unique patients who met the eligibility criteria for one or more trials. The risk of housing instability decreased in both arms over the three years after initiating a trial but was lower among SSVF enrollees, with a risk difference of -12.9% (95% confidence band -14.6%, -11.2%) on Day 120 and an attenuated difference of -2.4% (-4.0%, -0.7%) on Day 1095.

conclusionsSSVF is one of the largest rapid rehousing and homelessness prevention programs in the nation. We found that SSVF improves housing outcomes over the three years following enrollment, but the effect reduces over time. These findings can inform policy and program design for improving housing outcomes for homeless-experienced individuals.

Indexed as

HousingIll-Housed PersonsVeteransAdultAgedElectronic Health RecordsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedUnited StatesUnited States Department of Veterans Affairshomeless populationsrapid rehousingsocial determinants of healthSupportive Services for Veteran FamiliesVA Healthcare SystemVeterans

Identifiers

PMID39739599
PMCPMC12052498

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.