Quality of life outcomes for people with serious mental illness living in supported accommodation: systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of quality of life (QoL) outcomes for people with serious mental illness living in three types of supported accommodation. METHODS: Studies were identified that described QoL outcomes for people with serious mental illness living in supported accommodation in six electronic databases. We applied a random-effects model to derive the meta-analytic results. RESULTS: 13 studies from 7 countries were included, with 3276 participants receiving high support (457), supported housing (1576) and floating outreach (1243). QoL outcomes related to wellbeing, living conditions and social functioning were compared between different supported accommodation types. Living condition outcomes were better for people living in supported housing ([Formula: see text] = − 0.31; CI = [− 0.47; − 0.16]) and floating outreach ([Formula: see text] = − 0.95; CI = [− 1.30; − 0.61]) compared to high-support accommodation, with a medium effect size for living condition outcomes between supported housing and floating outreach ([Formula: see text] = − 0.40; CI = [− 0.82; 0.03]), indicating that living conditions are better for people living in floating outreach. Social functioning outcomes were significant for people living in supported housing compared to high support ([Formula: see text] = − 0.37; CI = [− 0.65; − 0.09]), with wellbeing outcomes not significant between the three types of supported accommodation. CONCLUSION: There is evidence that satisfaction with living conditions differs across supported accommodation types. The results suggest there is a need to focus on improving social functioning and wellbeing outcomes for people with serious mental illness across supported accommodation types. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00127-020-01885-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.