Development of a Seoul-Type Housing Service Model for People With a Mental Illness

Objective To establish and to promote the qualitative development of a housing service model in South Korea. Methods The questionnaire was collected through the housing needs survey and the focus group interview on the mental health pro-fessions. We enrolled 365 subjects from 63 places (community conversion facilities, cohabitation, cohabitation families, hospitals, psychiatric nursing homes) to answer the questionnaires. Results The survey result confirms the needs of people with a mental illness to be self-reliant, but it shows that the economic vulnerability is a hindrance. In addition, the most necessary factor for self-reliant living is to provide services that support daily living. Therefore, the study points out that a system that guarantees self-reliance must be added in order for the housing services to be distributed through-out local communities for the people with mental illness. Conclusion The study proposes the Seoul-type housing services model to replace the housing services that functions in a fragmented manner with the provision of an integrated services through a unified channel by establishing a housing support center (tentative name). This will ultimately help people with a mental illness to live a healthy life that meets their needs as community members.