Evaluation of a Pathway team for homeless mental health in-patients

Abstract

Aims and method The Pathway model is an enhanced care coordination model for homeless people in hospital. We aimed to evaluate the first attempt to apply it on psychiatric wards, which started in 2015 in South London. We developed a logic model which expressed how the Pathway approach might work. Two predictions from this model were tested, using propensity scores and regression to estimate the effect of the intervention among people who were eligible for it. Results The Pathway team theorised that their interventions would reduce length of stay, improve housing outcomes and optimise the use of primary care – and, more tentatively, reduce readmission and emergency presentations. We were able to estimate effects on length of stay (−20.3 days; 95% CI −32.5 to −8.1; P = 0.0012) and readmission (a non-significant reduction). Clinical implications The marked reduction in length of stay, explicable in terms of the logic model, constitutes preliminary support for the Pathway model in mental health services.

Keywords

• Homelessness
• community mental health teams
• in-patient treatment
• outcome studies
• primary care