Optimizing a Halfway House to Meet Mental Health Care Users’ Occupational Needs

Background. Halfway houses (HwH) may support community reintegration of mental health care users and can be effective in meeting occupational needs of residents. However, they are not optimally used in South Africa. Purpose. This study aimed to improve the functioning of a HwH so that it better meets occupational needs of the resident mental health care users. It draws on Doble & Santha; ( 2008 ) seven occupational needs. Method. A four-phase Participatory Action Research methodology was used. We conducted thematic analysis to describe met and unmet needs within PAR phases. Findings. Occupational needs of accomplishment, renewal, pleasure and companionship were being met. However, coherence, agency and affirmation needs were not being met. An additional occupational need for interdependence, based on the African ethic of Ubuntu, was identified. Implications. HwH functioning affected residents’ experiences of health and wellbeing. Engagement in collective occupations can contribute to meeting the occupational need of interdependence.

Halfway Houses

In 2016 there were a total of 4,537,100 individuals under community supervision in the United States, which equated to 1 in every 55 adults. This number included individuals who resided in halfway houses. Two-thirds of ex-offenders often recidivate within three years after being released from prison. Halfway houses have served many released and soon-to-be released prisoners, with the intention of rehabilitating and preparing them for successful reintegration back into society. Having undergone several name changes, halfway houses have been present for centuries within the United States. Since its creation, the halfway house has served as a bridge between imprisonment and society, where offenders are discharged to designated community residences before being released back into society. These centers serve people who do not need the confinement of an institution, yet are not ready for independent community living. Originally, these centers were created to serve as an alternative to incarceration for target populations within the United States. The goal was to help participants become law-abiding citizens through transitional housing, thus decreasing recidivism. Typically, halfway houses collaborate with nonprofit organizations, human service agencies, and other community services to provide education, counseling, 24-hour rehabilitative and residential services, and the like. These centers place an increased responsibility on the individual to determine how to balance life after incarceration. The term halfway houses emerged in the 1950s after being referred to as transitional housing years before, and most recently as offender reentry centers in some circles. They play a major role in the process of former inmates reentering society. Since the 1950s there has been an increased interest in these facilities and their utilization. They gained prominence in the 1960s and 1970s after the emergence of the concept of “residential continuum.” Determining whether such centers have a positive effect on offenders’ reintegration into the community remains deeply contested. Traditionally and contemporarily, halfway houses are not always welcomed in neighborhoods, as local community members often fear an increase in crime. Few studies have provided data on the impact halfway houses make on communities, however. While this remains a dilemma for scholars studying halfway houses and their impact on the larger community, there are publications that have laid the foundation for further research. The focus of this article is on halfway houses that provide transitional housing rather than those facilities that provide longer-term or indefinite residency.

Improving Efficiency Assessment of Psychiatric Halfway Houses: A Context-Dependent Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

This study proposes the approach of context-dependent data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure operating performance in halfway houses to enable suitable adjustments at the current economic scale. The proposed approach can be used to discriminate the performance of efficient halfway houses and provide more accurate DEA results related to the performance of all halfway houses in a region or a country. The relative attractiveness and progress were also evaluated, and individual halfway houses’ competitive advantage and potential competitors could be determined. A case study of 38 halfway houses in Taiwan was investigated by our proposed approach. Findings suggest that fifteen halfway houses belong to the medium level, which can be classified into a quadrant by examining both their attractiveness score and progress score. The results can be used to allocate community resources to improve the operational directions and develop incentives for halfway houses with attractive and progressive values, which can reduce the institutionalization and waste of medical resources caused by the long-term hospitalization of patients with mental illnesses. Our proposed approach can also provide references for operators and policy makers to improve the management, accreditation, and resource allocation of institutions.

‘Mobilizing’ prisoner reentry research: Halfway houses and the spatial-temporal dynamics of prison release

To date, prisoner reentry has been treated as a generic process—that is, people ‘reenter,’ without much specification regarding when and/or where this ‘reentry’ occurs. Drawing on in-depth interviews with halfway house residents in a north-western Canadian city, this article seeks to unpack the concept of prisoner reentry by exploring its spatial-temporal dimensions. I conceptualize prisoner reentry as a temporally fragmented sometimes piecemeal process that occurs across time as well as different locales, including neighbourhoods, cities, and sometimes even provinces. I do this by analyzing reentry through the lens of mobilities. Specifically, I argue that reentry via halfway houses produces mobilities that are experienced by former prisoners as simultaneously disciplining and productive of their future. In this context, I highlight the importance of paying attention to ex-prisoners’ conceptions of their future, including when and where they imagine that they will enact different aspects of their reintegration.

BREAST CANCER PATIENTS’ COMPLIANCE ON CHEMOTHERAPY: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

Breast cancer is the most women cancer in the world, including Indonesia. Some patients stop breast cancer treatment which is impacted to patients' conditions. In chronic diseases, therapy compliance is important for reach successful therapy however study that assess breast cancer patients’ compliance on chemotherapy is limited. The purpose of this study was to describe patient factors that can affect therapy compliance. This research used descriptive quantitative method and respondents were chosen using the accidental sampling technique. The data were gathered at one of the halfway houses in Bandung. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Data were analyzed by univariate analysis and described by frequency distribution. The results showed that 26 respondents (84%) were obedient to chemotherapy. There were 28 respondents (90.3%) because they did not carry out alternative medicine and 26 respondents (83.9%) had because they put aside work and related affairs to do chemotherapy. In conclusion, the majority of respondents were obedient to chemotherapy. There are patient factors that can improve chemotherapy compliance, there are chosen therapy factor and demographic and economic factors. Development of another halfway houses could be carried out, because of the result of this research, representing many breast cancer patients feels easier to obedient the sequence of therapy.Keywords: Breast cancer, therapy compliance, halfway house.

Halfway Out: An Examination of the Effects of Halfway Houses on Criminal Recidivism

Halfway houses are a form of community supervision and correctional programming that have become a staple intervention in recent years. Despite the ingrained belief in their benefits with respect to successful reintegration, this assumption may not be justified based on the existing literature. The current study provides a systematic review and meta-analysis of nine studies examining the effects of halfway houses on recidivism. Overall, the findings suggest that halfway houses are an effective correctional strategy for successful reentry (log odds ratio [LOR] = 0.236, z = 9.27, p < .001). Further work is needed to determine best practices for programming and meeting the needs of different participants.