Housing support- a way for moving from dependence to independence in life? A pluralist study of housing support from the perspectives of users, next of kin, housing support workers and social services

The proposed research project explores housing support in the context of independent living for persons with severe mental illness (SMI).

The main aim is to  explore the extent of and the ways in which HS constitutes a meaningful form of support to promote independent living for community dwelling persons with SMI.

In this, the project problematizes the meaning and practice of HS from the perspectives of users, next of kin, HSW and social services.

The project design builds on a plurarist approach and includes three different sub-studies that together provide a multidimenssional view of HS.

The proposed project has been designed by researchers, professionals and users who have been collaboarting together within a scope a pilot project financed by FORTE planning grant.

Further, this locally embedded project has a well-established cooperation with a reference group including key stakeholders (persons with SMI with experiences of housing support, housing support workers, case managers, social service unit managers) and relevant professional networks from social services and psychiatry.

Thanks to a close collaboration with the Research and Development Unit in Jönköping, the project has access to a well-established contacts with all municipalies in the county.

The project is designed with the purpose of participating in the discussions in the field regarding the provision, organization and practice of housing support.

With coproduction workshops constituting an important part of the project work, the aim is to provide a meaningful contribution and support to organizers and providers of housing support who meet numerous uncertainties and difficulties in their work.Further, the project lifts up the voices of users whose experiences are crucial to understanding the extent to which housing support responds to their needs and what functions it fulfils in their everyday lives.