Media

“Casas Primeiro” Program in Portugal

This video describes the “Casas Primeiro” program. This program uses a housing first approach, providing permanent, independent and scattered housing, rented from community landlords in mainstream neighborhoods, to homeless people with severe mental illness in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. The evaluation results confirmed the effectiveness of this model on reducing homelessness and the use of emergency services and hospitalizations. Participants reported significant improvements in personal safety, physical and mental health and a more positive outlook for their future. The support provided by program’s team is focused on facilitating participants’ access to community resources, education or employment in order to maximize their community participation. As an innovative approach in Portugal, the positive result of the Casas Primeiro program validates the applicability and the potential for generalization of the housing first model.

Author(s)

Jose Ornelas, Teresa Duarte, & Ines Almas

Jose Ornelas and Teresa Duarte are community psychology practitioners at the Institute for Social Psychology and Action, University of Lisboa, Portugal.

Ines Almas is the Housing First Program Team Coordinator at the Institute for Social Psychology and Action, University of Lisboa, Portugal.