User with age of 18 year old or above, who has a severe mental illness, express a willingness to live in the community and are recommended based on a need assessment.
Healing Homeland primarily is estabilised throught helping the individuals with psychiatric disabilities to adjust real-life environments and use local community resources. The service team outreaches to empower the service users by skill training and personal supports. And then, the users can practice self-determination to make decisions in their-owned community life. Therefore, with minimal assistance from the professional services, it enables individuals to realize their potential and achieve maximum independence.
Meeting the Community Living Needs of Individuals with psychiatric disabilities: Supporting each individual with mental illness to maintain a healthy and ordinary life within the community, contributing to themselves or others, and establishing meaningful social connections.
Naturally Utilizing Various Community Resources: Encouraging individuals with mental illnesses to participate directly in various community activities as citizens residing in Yuli Township, through the supports in housing and employment services.
Empowering Peers in Recovery to Become Independent and Able to Help Others: Empowering individuals in recovery to become peer supporters or workers, providing various forms of assistance in each home and community setting, and building social confidence and skills under the principles of equality and mutual helps.
Healing Homeland - Yuli Model SPECIAL-C Service: Four Key Features
Feature 1: Empowerment Enhancing Lived Experiences
Provide individuals with equal opportunities for self-determined decision-making as all citizens, allowing them to participate in everday activity. The service shifts from a "whole-controlled" model to a "recovery-oriented" empowerment service. This includes individualized support, respect and autonomy, participation in decision-making, and self-management.
Feature 2: Peers Supporting Social Network
Peer support among individuals is encouraged, creating a peer support system across social networks. This provides varying levels of assistance, improving quality of life, reducing healthcare costs, and creating a service model with diverse housing options.
Feature 3: Natural Integration for Social Asset
Assist individuals in integrating into the community by establishing positive social networks and relationships, participating in community activities, and building mutual trust with local residents, employers, and community leaders. This enhances individuals' ability to live independently and promotes social inclusion.
Feature 4: Collaboration for Career Development
Through the work and employment, individuals can earn income, build self-confidence, and improve social skills, leading to stable employment. A collaborative network provides support to help individuals live meaningful lives and achieve the progress in career planning.
Community-Based Housing and Independent Living support services for persons with psychiatric disabilities. A total of 46 service users were served, including 34 males and 12 females, with males accounting for 74% and females for 26%. The total service volume reached 5,616 service visits, including 3,818 visits for male service users and 1,798 visits for female service users. Services covered case management, family support, community residential support, Independent Living guidance, employment capacity building, transitional employment support, and innovative community-based support. Through continuous, outreach-based, and individualized services, the unit supports service users in housing, daily living, employment, and community participation, while strengthening their ability to use community resources and maintain stable lives in the community.
Improved self-help and mutual support
Peer support groups promoted personal growth, community participation, and self-support capacity, while linking 31 community resources to strengthen the local support network.
Positive community feedback
The service received strong community recognition, with employer satisfaction at 99.7%, landlord satisfaction at 93.8%, and service user satisfaction at 98%, showing high acceptance and trust.
Increased work training and employment opportunities
All service users participated in work training or employment, with an average monthly income of NT$14,993, supporting economic independence and reducing stigma.
Enhanced social functioning
95% of service users showed moderate to high functioning, reflecting progress in social skills, daily living, community adaptation, and independent living.
Use of long-term care resources and aging in place
Integrated community services combined volunteer companionship, long-term care resources, and need-based services to support stable living in familiar communities.
Localized peer support research and policy advocacy
The program actively engaged in policy discussions and advocacy, promoting the development of community support services for persons with psychiatric disabilities.
Professional development and public awareness
The program cultivated mental health professionals locally and internationally, while enhancing public understanding of community living and recovery-oriented support.
Healing Homeland emphasizes the safety, stability, and risk management of service users living in the community. Relevant data demonstrate the safety outcomes of the service.
1.Reduced risk of acute episodes and readmission
The annual readmission rate is 4.6%, indicating that the service provides stable support and effective risk management, helping to reduce the risk of acute episodes and repeated hospitalization.
2.Good physical and mental wellness
91% of service users maintained good physical and mental wellness, showing that the service helps participants sustain stable daily routines and health conditions.
3.Stable community living
Based on landlord satisfaction of 93.8%, service user satisfaction of 98%, and the low readmission rate, service users demonstrate a certain level of stability and safety in community living.
4.Protective effect of social functioning support
95% of service users showed moderate to high functioning, indicating adequate daily living skills, social interaction, and community adaptation. These serve as important foundations for safe community living.
Employer Satisfaction The survey was completed by supervisors at rehabilitation work training sites to assess participants’ work attitudes and performance, including work attitude, work quality, peer interaction, and willingness to rehire. The satisfaction rate reached 99.7%, reflecting the effectiveness of Healing Home’s workplace integration and employment support. 2. Landlord Satisfaction The survey was completed by community housing providers. Among them, 50% offered their properties for social rental purposes. The survey assessed environmental maintenance, communication, safety, and willingness to rent again. The satisfaction rate reached 93.8%, showing strong recognition of Healing Home’s housing support and community home management. 3. Service User Satisfaction In 2023, 24 participants completed the survey. Environmental satisfaction reached 98%, indicating that participants found the living space suitable, comfortable, well-located, clean, and safe. Satisfaction with service personnel reached 92%, showing that staff were friendly, responsive, and skilled in guidance. Self-growth, overall service, and funding subsidy satisfaction all reached 100%. Participants reported feeling happier, more confident, healthier, and more socially connected after moving into Healing Home.
## Comparison with International Community Mental Health Service Models Compared with the 2024 Swiss study by Adamus et al. on Independent Supported Housing (ISH) and institutional housing rehabilitation settings (HAU) for non-homeless individuals with severe mental illness, ISH showed better outcomes in quality of life, symptom reduction, personal capabilities, and hospitalization reduction. The reported readmission rates were 4%–28% for ISH and 21%–29% for HAU. Healing Home’s annual readmission rate was 4.55%, lower than our institutional accommodation model, Halfway House, at 13.54%, and Taiwan’s 2014 psychiatric readmission rate of 27.88%. This suggests favorable safety outcomes in community-based residential support. In terms of cost, the Swiss study found that ISH costs were nearly half of HAU costs. Similarly, Healing Home showed lower costs than institutional accommodation. In 2024, the annual cost per person was NT$76,375 for Healing Home and NT$185,420 for Halfway House, indicating substantial cost reduction. Overall, Healing Home shows outcomes consistent with international Independent Supported Housing models, including lower readmission rates, lower costs, and improved life satisfaction. Source: Adamus, C., Mötteli, S., Jäger, M., & Richter, D. (2024). Independent Supported Housing vs institutional housing rehabilitation settings for non-homeless individuals with severe mental illness. BMC Psychiatry, 24(1), 1–13.
