Quality of Life for Men who Attend a Day Shelter Compared to Transitional Housing

Team Quality Comparison Ellen Drzymala, Shannon Melchior, Tawnee Cain, Kelsey Bigham, Kristen Tam, & Steph Hayden

Washington University School of Medicine Program in Occupational Therapy

Introduction

• The Problem• 600,000 homeless

people in the U.S. • Negative impact on

occupational performance

• Impact on quality of life

• Day program vs. transitional housing

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to observe the quality of life among men who live in permanent housing, transitional housing and those who attend a day shelter.

Hypothesis

• In St. Louis, individuals living in permanent or transitional housing will have a greater quality of life compared to those attending day shelters.

Methods

• Subjects:• Day shelter• Transitional housing • Permanent housing

• Development: Altered assessment WHOQOL

• Data Collection: Administration of written assessment at each of the locations

• Outcome measures: Self-perceived quality of life

Descriptive Statistics

Table 1.

Sample Characteristics

Group N Mean Age ± SD

Permanent 12 43.4 ± 11.9

Labre 12 42.4 ± 12.2

The Bridge 4 36.8 ± 15.2

Table 2.

WHOQOL Score DistributionGroup Mean Score ± SD Min MaxPermanent 64.3 ± 4.8 56 71Labre 57.9 ± 11.7 32 75The Bridge 39.8 ± 3.8 36 45

Statistical Data Analysis

• Kruskal Wallis Analysis• Non-parametric

•Small sample size •Cannot assume a normal distribution • Interval data

• Mann- Whitney U Analysis • Non-parametric • Detects significance

Results

Table 3.

Comparison of QOL among Housing Groups

Group N Mean Rank  

Permanent* 12 18.9

Labre* 12 13.7

The Bridge 4 3.6  

* Significantly different than The Bridge p<0.05

Results

Table 3.

Comparison of QOL among Housing Groups

Group N Mean Rank  

Permanent* 12 18.9

Labre* 12 13.7

The Bridge 4 3.6  

* Significantly different than The Bridge p<0.05

Results

Table 3.

Comparison of QOL among Housing Groups

Group N Mean Rank  

Permanent* 12 18.9

Labre* 12 13.7

The Bridge 4 3.6  

* Significantly different than The Bridge p<0.05

Statistical Insight

• Difficulty recruiting appropriate sample size

• Incentives failed to motivate participants

• Demographic information collection

• Sensitive topic

Comparison to Previous Literature

• Few studies• Wolf et al. (2001): transitional housing yielded higher life satisfaction

• Bebout et al. (1997): improved QOL in stable housing

• Lack of literature on day programs and quality of life

Adding to the Body of Knowledge

• Data from our study suggest that individuals who reside in transitional housing enjoy a higher quality of life than those attending day shelters.

Clinical Implications & Future Work

• Informs policy makers and program designers

• Potential area for OT practice• Quality of Life

• Was OT intervention an influential factor in high QOL at the Labre center?

Limitations

• Small & unequal sample sizes• Possible untruthful answers

• Due to environment, laziness, etc. • Social desirability bias • Limited knowledge of sample

demographics• Lack of rapport• Non-standardized assessment

Conclusion & Summary

• Programs for homeless individuals should utilize a transitional housing format as opposed to a day-shelter design.

• More research • Generalize (other locations; different models)• Fill gaps caused by limitations

Questions?

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