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Gabrielian S, Bromley E, Hamilton AB, Vu VT, Alexandrino A, Koosis E, Young AS. Problem solving skills and deficits among homeless veterans with serious mental illness. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 2018 Jul 16.
Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects. Few interventions train homeless consumers in housing-related independent living skills. To inform the development of such interventions for the Department of Veterans Affairs' Supported Housing consumers with serious mental illness, we examined these consumers' problem-solving skills and deficits. We performed semistructured interviews and cognitive tests with 20 consumers who retained housing for 1 year ("stayers") and 20 consumers who lost housing in < 1 year ("exiters"). Salient types of problems were identified in the qualitative data; we categorized problem-solving approaches by complexity level and identified differences in problem-solving complexity by consumers' housing outcomes. Instrumental (e.g., money management), interpersonal, and health-related problems were prominent in consumers' narratives. Cognition was poor among stayers and exiters. Problem-solving approaches were highly relevant to day-to-day functioning in supported housing. There was a trend toward greater problem-solving complexity in stayers versus exiters. These data explore potential challenges faced in supported housing and help inform the development of a Veterans Affairs-based housing-focused skills training intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record
