PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Schreiter, Stefanie
AU  - Heidrich, Sascha
AU  - Zulauf, Jamie
AU  - Saathoff, Ute
AU  - Brückner, Anne
AU  - Majic, Tomislav
AU  - Rössler, Wulf
AU  - Schouler-Ocak, Meryam
AU  - Krausz, Michael R
AU  - Bermpohl, Felix
AU  - Bäuml, Josef
AU  - Gutwinski, Stefan
TI  - Housing situation and healthcare for patients in a psychiatric centre in Berlin, Germany: a cross-sectional patient survey
AID  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-032576
DP  - 2019 Dec 01
TA  - BMJ Open
PG  - e032576
VI  - 9
IP  - 12
4099  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/12/e032576.short
4100  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/12/e032576.full
SO  - BMJ Open2019 Dec 01; 9
AB  - Objective To determine the housing situation among people seeking psychiatric treatment in relation to morbidity and service utilisation.Design Cross-sectional patient survey.Setting Psychiatric centre with a defined catchment area in Berlin, Germany, March–September 2016.Participants 540 psychiatric inpatients including day clinics (43.2% of all admitted patients in the study period (n=1251)).Main outcome measures Housing status 30 days prior the interview as well as influencing variables including service use, psychiatric morbidity and sociodemographic variables.Results In our survey, 327 participants (68.7%) currently rented or owned an own apartment; 62 (13.0%) reported to be homeless (living on the street or in shelters for homeless or refugees); 87 (18.3%) were accommodated in sociotherapeutic facilities. Participants without an own apartment were more likely to be male and younger and to have a lower level of education. Homeless participants were diagnosed with a substance use disorder significantly more often (74.2%). Psychotic disorders were the highest among homeless participants (29.0%). Concerning service use, we did neither find a lower utilisation of ambulatory services nor a higher utilisation of hospital-based care among homeless participants.Conclusions Our findings underline the need for effective housing for people with mental illness. Despite many sociotherapeutic facilities, a concerning number of people with mental illness is living in homelessness. Especially early interventions addressing substance use might prevent future homelessness.