PCI 4 | Housing First Program Fidelity: What is Fidelity? How Does a Program Achieve Program Fidelity? And Why Does it Matter?
Tracks
Pre-Conference Institutes
| Monday, April 8, 2024 |
| 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM |
| Salon West |
Session Overview
This session describes the Pathways Program Fidelity Scale and how it used to assess program services and outcomes. In an interactive segment workshop participants are invited to evaluate their own programs using the scale. Topics also include the use of the HF program fidelity scale in research and as a useful program quality improvement instrument.
Description
This session describes the Pathways Program Fidelity Scale and how it used to assess program services and outcomes. In an interactive segment workshop participants are invited to evaluate their own programs using the scale. Topics also include the use of the HF program fidelity scale in research and as a useful program quality improvement instrument.
Program fidelity has emerged as an important area of focus for evidence-based interventions like Housing First (HF) programs. Research has shown that Pathways HF programs with higher levels of fidelity produce greater housing stability and quality of life outcomes for tenants (Davidson et al., 2015; Goering et al., 2015). As new HF programs continue to be developed, an important issue is ensuring that they have a high level of fidelity. The objective of this workshop is: (1) To familiarize participants with how to assess program fidelity and the use of different methods to assess fidelity, (2) To review the items in the revised Pathways Program Fidelity Scale, and (3) To provide an opportunity for participants to assess their own programs on specific fidelity items and discuss how fidelity can be improved on these items.
Ronni Greenwood
Associate Vice President For Student Engagement
University of Limerick, Ireland
Presenter
Dr Ronni Michelle Greenwood is a Social-Community Psychologist and Senior Lecturer in the Psychology Department at University of Limerick. Dr Greenwood is an internationally recognized expert in recovery-oriented strategies to end chronic homelessness. She serviced as the Assistant Director for Research on the original trial of Housing First at Pathways to Housing in New York City. She was a co-investigator on the Horizon 2020-funded project "Homelessness as Unfairness" (Home_EU, 726997, https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/726997. Currently, she is the lead evaluator for the Irish National Housing First Implementation.
Sam Tsemberis
President/CEO
Pathways Housing First Institute
Presenter
Sam Tsemberis, Ph.D., is a clinical-community psychologist who originated the “Housing First” model, an evidence based program for effectively ending homelessness for individuals diagnosed with mental illness and addiction. Housing First programs are successfully implemented across the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Dr. Tsemberis has decades of experience in program operations, training, consultation, and research. He currently serves as CEO of the Pathways Housing First Institute, is on the faculty at UCLA Department of Psychiatry and serves as Executive Director of the UCLA-VA Center of Excellence for Training and Research on Veterans Homelessness and Recovery. He has published widely on the topics of homelessness, mental illness, and addiction and received recognition for Independent Contribution to Practice from the American Psychological Association and awarded the Meritorious Service Cross from the Government of Canada. The Pathways Housing First Institute and DESC founded and continue to convene the Housing First Partners Conference.
Kathryn Gibb
Manager- Supportive Housing
Services and Housing In The Province (SHIP)
Presenter
Kathryn Gibb has worked in the field of housing and homelessness for over 20 years, within shelter, outreach, and supportive housing settings. As Program Manager for Supportive Housing with SHIP, she leads multi-disciplinary Housing First teams within the Mississauga, Ontario area. Kathryn has co-facilitated two peer Housing First Fidelity Exchanges as a member of the Canadian Housing First Network Steering Committee.
Ana Stefancic
Columbia University
Facilitator
Dr. Stefancic is a qualitative and mixed methods researcher whose work focuses on the implementation and effectiveness of housing and service models that promote self-determination, recovery, and health equity. She has been a consultant, lead evaluator, and co-investigator on federally funded research grants from NIMH, SAMHSA, NIDLRR, and AHRQ. Recent collaborations have focused on assessing fidelity to the Pathways Housing First model, enhancing services for early intervention in psychosis, integrating physical and mental health care, evaluating suicide prevention programs for youth and young adults, expanding access to home health and end-of-life care, and evaluating mental health supports for LGBTQ+ populations. Dr. Stefancic also provides training and support for Housing First implementation and for projects using qualitative evaluations, with a focus on integrating methods of analysis that align with different research contexts and objectives to rapidly inform practice.
