The Better Health and Housing Program evaluation

Positive outcomes realised by residents and conditions for success identified in the BHHP.

At a glance

Delivered through a health and housing partnership between BSL, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and Launch Housing, the Better Health and Housing Program (BHHP) aims to support health, housing and wellbeing outcomes for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and co-occurring health conditions by offering integrated health and housing support.

This evaluation report intends to:

• document the extent to which housing, health and wellbeing outcomes for residents are realised
• contribute to the evidence base for future BHHP model development and interventions impacting on health and housing.

We used three key evaluation questions: 

• To what extent have intended health, housing and wellbeing outcomes been achieved by residents at the end of their stay at the BHHP and at the end of their post-stay support?
• To what extent, and with what variation, have the principles of care been implemented through the way of working in the BHHP?
• In what ways, and under what conditions, has the BHHP way of working contributed to realising intended health and housing outcomes for residents?

Dive deeper

Resident outcomes were positive, with improved housing, health and wellbeing for residents with planned exits.

The BHHP enabled residents to engage and realise outcomes through these interdependent elements:

• Program staff prioritise actionable health and housing goals and resident engagement: Actionable goals align with residents’ interests, motivations and resource availability. With resident engagement, staff effectively guide residents towards these goals while upholding the principles of care.
• Residents built engagement that enabled positive outcomes: Residents who participated in interviews described being offered genuine opportunities and encouraged to make meaningful choices.
• Elements of the program design are important conditions for success: The availability of expert staff, a program that is long enough for engagement to be built over time, and access to services and other resources from the health and housing systems all contributed to timely, flexible and effective support for residents to progress towards positive outcomes.