Outcomes of a life skills intervention for homeless adults with mental illness.

A manualized life skills intervention based on empowerment theory and situated learning was tested on 51 homeless adults with mental illness living in emergency or single room occupancy housing. The intervention improved skills in food, money, room, and self-care management and safe community participation. Participation included baseline measures with intervention post-tests and three and six month follow up measures. Comparisons were made to examine effectiveness between modules. There were significant improvements over time for the room and self-care and safe community participation modules, whereas the other modules did not reach statistical significance. The results suggest that through intervention this population may develop and retain the life skills needed to maintain residential stability.