Creating welcoming spaces for homeless mentally ill

It is the life of most people with persistent mental health conditions to be consigned forever to a care institution. You may wonder why this is such a bad thing – after all, they have food, safety, shelter and treatment. Yes, they do get treated, but not rehabilitated. Yes, they do recover from a disability, but never returned to being fully functional or living a complete life. Social and economic inclusion is but an unattainable dream for the individuals.

In response to the longing for home, The Banyan has created an innovative model of long term care. Quite simply we are renting homes in rural and sub urban neighborhoods, encouraging women to form small affinity groups and occupy these homes. Together, they create a shared space of comfort that mimics a familial environment. Every house of three to five women is staffed by a community worker who facilitate the psychosocial and medical intervention they continue to need. The women are supported to engage in a diverse range of work, embrace leisure, recreation and socialization within the community.

Over 220 individual live in 49 homes across 3 states and experience an enhanced quality of life due to the opportunities for participation and social mixing offered by the Home Again approach. The approach is being scaled in partnership with State Governments of Kerala and Maharastra, as a means to facilitate exit options into community based living options for long-stay patients in government running mental health centres.

The Home Again approach is a high value solution, that improves quality of life, reduces levels of disability, and fosters community integration – while reducing cost of care. The cost of operating a Home Again programme is less than half of what it costs in institutional / hospital based setting.