Mind Australia, in partnership with Australian Housing & Urban Research Institute (AHURI), has completed a two-year national study examining the relationship between the housing and mental health pathways of people with lived experience of mental ill-health.
This ground-breaking research confirms a direct relationship between housing and mental health. Among other key findings, the research shows that housing is the foundation for mental health recovery and that mental health, housing and homelessness are interrelated.
The research identified five typical trajectories that capture people’s experiences with mental health and housing services and systems as well as potential points of practical intervention and key issues for system improvement. This includes a number of ‘circuit breakers’ that support people to move towards being well-supported.
The findings from this research were drawn from multiple sources including interviews with 130 consumers and carers and focus groups with housing and mental health service providers across Australia, as well as a comprehensive literature review and analyses of large population datasets.
You can read the final research report here Trajectories: the interplay between mental health and housing pathways.
To supplement the full research report, Mind has produced a report which summarises the 130 national consumer and carer consultations.
This report captures the voices of people who have experienced issues with their mental health and their interactions with mental health and housing services.
Read the Report for national consumer and carer consultations here.
Read Mind’s key findings and recommendations in Mind’s position statement on the Report from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consultations here
Trajectories: Report from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consultations
This report focuses on the voices of Indigenous people who have experienced issues with their mental health and their interactions with mental health and housing services.
Read the Report from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consultations here.
Related publications
- Policy priorities for better access to housing and mental health support for people with lived experience of mental ill health and housing insecurity report
- An Executive Summary of the Trajectories report.
- Quantitative evidence on the relationship between mental health and housing: This report examines the relationships between housing and mental health using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey and Journeys Home datasets.
- Evidence Review: This report provides a summary of the research literature on housing and mental health that existed before the Trajectories research was undertaken.
Trajectories in print
Based on the findings of Trajectories, Mind contributed two articles and an opinion piece to the May 2020 edition of Parity magazine which focussed on mental health, housing and homelessness.
You can read the articles below:
- The impact of housing on the lives of people with serious mental Ill-health
- The impact of the living environment on the mental health of people living with mental ill-health
- A crisis provides opportunity for the commission, by Sarah Pollock.
Parity magazine is Council to Homeless Persons national publication, examining homelessness from personal, local, social and global perspectives. Subscribe to Parity magazine.