Refuge for the Homeless

Abstract

The right ambulant psychiatric support is necessary for formerly homeless persons to succeed in their independent living. In this research is explored how an ambulant support network around a client is organised by care professionals. Thereafter is examined how effective and accessible this support is from the viewpoint of the care professional. The cooperation and accessibility between care organisations are assessed to understand if the basis for ambulant support is yet available. In this explorative research 22 semi-structured interviews are conducted with care professionals in the Dutch regions: Gooi en Vechtstreek and Waterland. During the interviews it became clear that on the policy level a concrete and substantial vision was developed, but the care organisations did not have a mutual understanding. Social district Teams are not structured according to the vision of the regions. Besides that, the communication between different stakeholders is still not developed enough to have a conclusive approach of psychiatric ambulant support. It is recommended to incorporate the social district teams better and expand the responsibilities of the crisis response teams. Another possibility is to install an additional team, like the 24/7 supervision in the neighbourhood pilot that has started in Gooi en Vechtstreek. The insights given by care professionals are helpful to understand, on an organisational and policy level, how clients are served in their reception of care.