Visiting Speaker: Dr Sima Sandhu, Queen Mary University of London

Date: Thursday 17th December
Time: 12:00 - 13:00

Location: C128

Title: Views on the Quality and Effectiveness of Supported Tenancies for People with Mental Health Problems: Findings from the QuEST Study.


Biography:

Sima Sandhu is a post-doctoral researcher at the Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry (WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Services Development), Queen Mary University of London.  In her current post she has undertaken research on migrant health care across Europe, systematic and conceptual reviews on non-specific mental health treatment, and more recently the QuEST study with colleagues at University College London.  She has a background in psychology and health and social care services research, and completed her PhD on care worker motivations and the implications for social policy at the University of East London in 2013.  

Abstract:

Following extended periods of inpatient treatment, people with mental health problems in England can require supported accommodation services in order to manage and maintain their recovery and independence in the community.  The type of support, and the intensity or setting in which it is provided, can vary with clients expected to move from highly staffed accommodation-based to relatively independent settings with visiting staff. Currently, there is little evidence on what these services share in terms of the ideological goals and client aspirations, or in what ways these services are actually experienced as helpful by those using them, and perceived as effective by those providing them.  In this talk I will present findings from in-depth interviews with staff and clients from different types of supported accommodation services (residential care, supported housing, floating outreach) to explore their perspectives on the purpose of these services, and the components of care found to be most helpful. The findings provide an understanding of the commonalities in the ideological approach to care in these services, as well as the facilitators that support clients and services to effectively reach their respective goals.  This study forms part of a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded Programme Grant on the Quality and Effectiveness of Supported Tenancies for people with mental health problems (the QuEST study).