The effect of the C.O.M.E program for people with mental and/or drug disorders to live a more independent life
Joint Event on World Congress on Psychiatry & Psychological Syndromes & 29th International Conference on Adolescent Medicine and Child Psychology
December 06-07, 2018 | Rome, Italy

Nikolaus Blatter

University of Innsbruck, Austria

Keynote: J Psychiatry

Abstract:

Since the 1980s the treatment-first paradigm has dominated the support of clients with mental and drug disorders in Austria. The access-threshold for social service was high for the patient, especially for client with pronounced symptoms whose support was difficult. This led to a considerable number of people who are affected by homelessness. As a result they get treated in the homeless treatment sector. In 2014 the policy of Vorarlberg (Austria) implemented the ???psychiatry concept 2015-2025??? which includes ten projects to improve the support of community psychiatry. ???Psychiatric home care service??? was one of these projects and started in 2015. The aim of this present long-term study was to evaluate the C O M E program which started in 2016 and included 52 probands. Our hypothesis was that the C O M E program enables clients to live a more independent life including permanent housing, decrease stays in hospital, improve a long-term mental stability and encourage them in the development of alternative assistance for mutual support. Moreover this support program should enable the caregiver in their daily work. The C O M E program is based on the theoretical foundation of housing first and treatment first. The abbreviation stands for: cooperation, observation, mutual-support and evaluation. A crucial part of the data collection is done by the assessment sheet which is scored at least one time a week. The data collection also includes report-data and medical history. Over a time-period of 42 weeks we found that continuous abstinence from drugs and alcohol is an important criterion for a better cooperation between client and caregiver. Abstinence is not a necessary requirement to get a care-giver-support in the C O M E program. Finally, it is necessary to keep the contact, even if the client denies the contact. Recent Publications 1. Johnson S and Teixeira L (2010) Staircases, elevators and cycles of change-???housing first??? and other housing models for homeless people with complex support needs. London: Crisis. ISBN: 978-1-899257-63-8. 2. Nelson G, Kloos B and Ornelas J (2014) Community Psychology and Community Mental Health. Oxford University Press. 3. Pearson C, Montgomery A E and Locke Gretchen (2009) Housing stability among homeless individuals with serious mental illness participating in housing first programs. Journal of Community Psychology 37(3):404-417. 4. Sahlin I (2002) The staircase of transition: survival through failure. Innovation, European Journal of Social Research 18(2):115-135. 5. Tsemberis S (2010) Housing first: the pathways model to end homelessness for people with mental illness and addiction manual. In European Journal of Homelessness 5(2):235-240.

Biography :

Nikolaus Blatter Past Professional experience (2002-2015): Psychiatric-hospital Baumgarnter Höhe in Vienna; homeless-shelter in Vorarlberg; Supervisor of a small-careunit for homeless clients with mental illness and drug diagnoses; Professional experience: Since 2015 he/she is working as Psychologist in the Government of Vorarlberg, Department for Community Psychiatry and Drug help. Working topics: individual case planning, detection from unmet-needs especially the support from severe mental ill clients in various treatment-sectors (homeless, community psychiatry, drug…); participation in the creation of the Vorarlberger psychiatric- report. His/her research topics: as a PhD Student since 2016 to evaluate the home-treatment support in the federal state Vorarlberg; Detection of over-, under- and lack of supply in community psychiatry, drug help and adjacent areas (homeless, nursing).

E-mail: Nikolaus.Blatter@vorarlberg.at