Socio-sPatial framework conditions for inclusive housing for persons with complex mental health needs in rural and small-town areas

In Austria and neighbouring regions, inclusive housing projects for the inclusion of the elderly, of physically or mentally impaired residents, asylum seekers, refugees and people of foreign origin have been developed. However, so far, comparatively few housing projects have targeted the integration of persons with psychiatric illnesses. It thus remains largely unexplored which innovative (institutional) care arrangements and housing projects allow for largely self-determined living and social inclusion of persons with complex mental health needs in rural and small-town areas of Lower Austria. To this backdrop three Lower Austrian universities (DUK, SU, FHSP) with considerable expertise in the field team up with PSZ gGmbH, a local non-profit service provider for persons with psychiatric disabilities, to form the SPUR consortium. SPUR establishes a comprehensive review of relevant inclusive housing projects and assesses their applicability for rural and small-town contexts of Lower Austria along a set of defined criteria. Two to four selected housing projects are studied in depth and factors are identified which contribute to their success. A stakeholder process forms SPUR’s back bone: With citizen scientists at its core, this process engages persons with complex mental health needs (and their family/ relatives) as well as a number of target groups such as local community representatives, mayors, administrators, housing cooperatives, etc. Throughout the project, stakeholder provide feedback to steps of the research and their engagement follows a transdisciplinary scenario planning approach whereby it identifies hindering and supporting conditions for inclusive living arrangements, develops visions for future arrangements and potentially prepares their operationalization.