FEBRUARY 2017 NEWSLETTER
Service development reports, training resources, recent research, and food for thought: the monthly essay:

Y-Adapt
Originally embargo’ed during a round of local contract tendering, Ypeople’s are now releasing this outline for developing a clubhouse model, as one version of the PIE.
Find it HERE.

Housing First: a case study of Fulfilling Lives - early stage evaluation report 
This is an early findings report on the introduction of Housing First in the London boroughs of Camden and Islington as part of the Fulfilling Lives programme pilots on tackling complex needs and multiple exclusion.
Find it HERE

Surviving homelessness: rebuilding lives and mental well-being
A very effective training video offered (free) as a resource for new staff and volunteers. Produced to a very good professional standard by Community Advance Project, this video is nevertheless also very person-centred, focussing on the experience both of homeless people themselves, and the workers working with them.
Find it HERE.

Reflective Practice
In this video, Renzo Cardosi of Ypeople interviews Robin Johnson on the value of reflective practice, and the various ways it might be introduced.
Find it HERE.

Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta analysis
This summary of multiple published studies, which finds that loneliness is as significant a cause of mortality as many other features such as smoking or diabetes, has implications for what we should regard as a satisfactory outcome in housing of those most at risk of social exclusion.
Find it HERE.

Highways and Buyways:  A snapshot of UK drug scenes 2016
A survey by DrugWise on recent street drug developments and usage covers synthetic cannabinoids (aka Spice)and other street drugs. We re-publish it here both for its inherent information value, and as an example of independent and committed research .
Find it HERE.

Change, Justice and Fairness 
“Why should we have to move everywhere and everything because of him?”   A participatory action research report from Scotland on homelessness as a result of domestic or sexual abuse has findings that doubtless apply over the border, and across all borders.
Find it HERE.

The neuroscience of singing
On a more up-beat note:  a summary of research on the health benefits of singing together suggests that participation in groups enhances even very simple ‘feel good’ activities and has both immediate and long term benefits
Find it HERE.

The monthly essay -   Housing First: addressing the community dimension
February’s essay builds on a number of discussions in both the US and the UK, exploring the evolution of the Housing First model from one that looks solely at tenancy rights and individualised support, to one that considers the value of a sense of belonging, and of peer support, with a community work model.
Find it HERE.