Mental Health Network's Healthy Foundations: Integrating housing as part of the mental health pathway

This report explores the steps needed to achieve a more integrated and strategic approach between health, housing and social care. It was commissioned by the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network, delivered and written by HACT and supported by Home Group.

Key points:

• To drive forward plans for mental health and wellbeing in local communities, a more integrated and strategic approach between health, housing and social care is needed.
• For people living with serious mental illness, housing can be a critical factor in helping people to live as independently as possible, while also accessing the support they need to live and thrive in local communities.
• This report explores what more can be done at the policy and practice levels to achieve a more integrated and strategic approach between health, housing and social care. It brings together the key outcomes and recommendations from a series of engagement events, culminating in a Mental Health and Housing Summit. The summit focused on strengthening the link between housing, health and social care and explored the impact that supported housing can have on people with mental health problems.
• With large, sector-wide transformation and investment taking place across the health and care landscape, now is an opportune time to invest in and make explicit the relationship between mental health and housing.
• National bodies have a role to play in setting out a clear vision and national strategy, supported and underpinned by long-term investment. This can be implemented at scale across the country, adapting to local populations needs, through the newly formed integrated care systems.
• There is a need to develop more consistent and explicit models of supported housing services that are built on good practice, quality and collaboration between people with lived experience and their clinical, supported housing, and social care teams. This can and should be built on pockets of excellence already available across the country so that there is consistent, guaranteed access to supported housing services, regardless of where someone might live.
• This publication will be useful to all those with an interest in improving the care of people with severe mental health issues, including clinicians, managers, commissioners, policymakers and politicians.

As organisations that represent and work with NHS-funded mental health and learning disability service providers and commissioners, and the social housing sector, the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network and HACT have always recognised the need for a more integrated approach between mental health and housing. Together, we want to ensure that as the country emerges from the pandemic, we drive forward greater integration as a core part of recovery. Download the report to read the set of recommendations for national bodies and local health and care systems and partnerships that we believe will enable a more integrated and strategic approach between health, housing and social care.