On any given night, seventeen individuals out of ten thousand individuals living in the United States are suffering homelessness, which indicates that there are more than 500,000 homeless people in the United States. (Burns et al., 2021). As the homeless population expands, excellent care becomes more challenging to find. This study will examine two ways to improve homeless outpatient mental health services. Two main areas of attention are staff working conditions to reduce stress and homeless programs like “Housing First.” Consideration of occupational stress is required in order to lessen the likelihood of employee burnout and turnover and to provide adequate care for people experiencing homelessness. Employers may retain workers and improve service by improving working conditions. Another option is to evaluate programs like “Housing First.” Proper funding for effective interventions will determine the mental health facility’s effectiveness.
Workplace Strain and Conditions
The industrialized world is facing a growing problem with stress from employment, which is resulting in substantial expenses for both individual workers and work organizations all over the world. (Sriharan et al., 2021). To ensure quality care, working environment and burnout prevention must be examined. Employers can better comprehend occupational stress by reviewing prior studies (Solomonidou & Katsounari, 2022). Employee burnout can be managed by identifying work stress and creating support systems. Well-supported personnel will provide better community care.
Burnout is complete physical, mental, and psychological depletion. Burnout can make it hard to enjoy your usual hobbies. You may lose interest in key activities or feel gloomy. (Campbell, 2019). Employers’ ignorance of professional pressures makes it challenging to determine burnout prevention supports (Jeannette & Lane, 2019). Studies show organizational design, supporting measures, and worker coping techniques cause job-related stress in social sector professionals. High work stress is hazardous for social workers. They increasingly work in resource-constrained environments with changing organizational structures and team composition, forcing the remaining workers to do more work. These challenges can lower care quality and client trust in social services.
Outpatient mental health clinics benefit from previously conducted research by better understanding circumstances at work along with establishing better organizational demands such as fair caseload assignments, adequate management, sufficient overtime, and clearly established responsibilities and expectations. (Campbell, 2022). Literature evaluations and previous studies can uncover knowledge gaps and inform future research. Organizations can increase their knowledge of occupational stress by asking new questions, gathering new data, analyzing it, and comparing it to what we already know.
According to Campbell (2019), the stress experienced by social workers is caused by a heavy workload, frequently working overtime and unclear job responsibilities. Both studies’ research methods were detailed and ethical for homeless shelter staff. This study provides clear replication instructions which can help outpatient mental health facilities develop new services, but workplace traumatic stress research is needed. Prevention strategies should improve workplace quality, performance, and employee commitment (Solomonidou & Katsounari, 2022).
Housing First Program Effectiveness
residences First is “a homeless aid program that focuses on delivering long-term accommodation for individuals without a home and enabling them to work towards individual objectives that will enhance their overall standard of life.” This method presupposes that food and shelter before focusing on less important issues like job hunting, budgeting, or substance use. Additionally, it has been suggested that the inclusion of client choice plays a crucial role in the process of home selection and engagement in supportive services. This approach is believed to have a positive impact on people’s capacity to maintain affordable housing and enhance their overall well-being (Baxter et al., 2019). Helping people experiencing homelessness find accommodation first lets them focus on secondary needs like mental health, employment, and substance abuse. Housing First Programs are practical, so outpatient mental health facilities should collaborate with them.
The most successful method of assisting people in securing and keeping stable housing is through First Housing (HF) programs. (Latimer et al., 2019) HF program gaps can be identified to create research questions and a new study. The HF program is the most effective way to reduce homelessness (Latimer et al., 2019).
This study employed qualitative research methods to investigate a relatively unexplored dimension of the notion of housing first (HF). Specifically, the necessity and significance of temporary housing sometimes referred to as interim accommodation for individuals awaiting permanent housing. This research holds importance in the advancement of a novel service delivery paradigm since it specifically targets those who wait to immediately qualify for housing assistance under Housing First (HF) programs. Additional research is warranted due to the need for more clarity in the findings of this study.
Conclusion
This study examined two approaches to enhance support for homeless individuals in outpatient mental health treatment centres. The two main areas of attention are improving staff working conditions to reduce stress and evaluating homeless programs like “housing first.” Examining academic literature and studies on each topic enhances understanding for informed decisions and future research.
References
Baxter, A. J., Tweed, E. J., Katikireddi, S. V., & Thomson, H. (2019). Effects of Housing First approaches on health and well-being of adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. J Epidemiol Community Health, 73(5), 379-387. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2018-210981
Burns, D., Espinoza, D., Ondrasek, N., & Yang, M. (2021). Students Experiencing Homelessness: The Conditions and Outcomes of Homelessness among California Students. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.3102/1690600
Campbell, J. (2019). The impact of caseload and tenure on the development of vicarious trauma in Australian corrective services employees. Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.59158/001c.71247
Latimer, E. A., Rabouin, D., Cao, Z., Ly, A., Powell, G., Adair, C. E., … & At Home/Chez Soi Investigators. (2019). Cost-effectiveness of Housing First intervention with intensive case management compared with treatment as usual for homeless adults with mental illness: secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial. JAMA network open, 2(8), e199782-e199782. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.9782
Solomonidou, A., & Katsounari, I. (2022). Experiences of social workers in nongovernmental services in Cyprus leading to occupational stress and burnout. International Social Work, 65(1), 83-97. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872819889386
Sriharan, A., Ratnapalan, S., Tricco, A. C., & Lupea, D. (2021). Women in healthcare are experiencing occupational stress and burnout during COVID-19: a rapid review. BMJ open, 11(4), e048861. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-048861
Waegemakers Schiff, J., & Lane, A. M. (2019). PTSD symptoms, vicarious traumatization, and burnout in front-line workers in the homeless sector. Community Mental Health Journal, 55, 454-462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-018-00364-7
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