RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The At Home/Chez Soi trial protocol: a pragmatic, multi-site, randomised controlled trial of a Housing First intervention for homeless individuals with mental illness in five Canadian cities
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e000323
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000323
VO 1
IS 2
A1 Paula N Goering
A1 David L Streiner
A1 Carol Adair
A1 Tim Aubry
A1 Jayne Barker
A1 Jino Distasio
A1 Stephen W Hwang
A1 Janina Komaroff
A1 Eric Latimer
A1 Julian Somers
A1 Denise M Zabkiewicz
YR 2011
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/1/2/e000323.abstract
AB Introduction Housing First is a complex housing and support intervention for homeless individuals with mental health problems. It has a sufficient knowledge base and interest to warrant a test of wide-scale implementation in various settings. This protocol describes the quantitative design of a Canadian five city, $110 million demonstration project and provides the rationale for key scientific decisions.Methods A pragmatic, mixed methods, multi-site field trial of the effectiveness of Housing First in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Moncton, is randomising approximately 2500 participants, stratified by high and moderate need levels, into intervention and treatment as usual groups. Quantitative outcome measures are being collected over a 2-year period and a qualitative process evaluation is being completed. Primary outcomes are housing stability, social functioning and, for the economic analyses, quality of life. Hierarchical linear modelling is the primary data analytic strategy.Ethics and dissemination Research ethics board approval has been obtained from 11 institutions and a safety and adverse events committee is in place. The results of the multi-site analyses of outcomes at 12 months and 2 years will be reported in a series of core scientific journal papers. Extensive knowledge exchange activities with non-academic audiences will occur throughout the duration of the project.Trial registration number This study has been registered with the International Standard Randomised Control Trial Number Register and assigned ISRCTN42520374.