Recuperative Care: Rhode Island Medical Respite Pilot Program: Hallworth House

The Medical Respite Program serves people experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness with acute medical and behavioral health support needs. By providing a stable and safe place to recover and receive necessary services, medical respite promotes healing and recovery, ultimately disrupting the cycle of homelessness and reduces the need for costly, preventable emergency intervention. This will be achieved by:

1. Providing an individual with a temporary accommodation and services that facilitate recovery from current illness/injury
2. Establishing linkages to primary care, behavioral health, and healthcare specialists that promote routine healthcare
3. Connecting clients to social services by way of primary care or case management and screening; and
4. Providing housing supports and housing navigation services that allow for entry into permanent supportive housing or another housing program/solution OR promote a plan that will keep the client engaged in housing navigation and planning while a housing solution is devised.

Program Aim and Guiding Principles

Program Aim: Improve health status, address health related social needs (HRSN) and decrease healthcare expenditures through the provision of culturally sensitive services.

Program Principles: The Medical Respite Program Guiding Principles include:

1. Improve overall health status of people experiencing homelessness
   • Increase engagement in, and use of, harm reduction services and supports
   • Increase engagement in primary care
   • Improve health literacy and health condition management
   • Reduce severity of primary diagnosis
   • Increase engagement in behavioral healthcare services
2. Address health related social needs among people experiencing homelessness
   • Improve housing status or connection to housing resources
   • Reduce food insecurity
3. Decrease healthcare expenditures among people experiencing homelessness
   • Reduce inpatient readmissions
   • Reduce length of inpatient stay
   • Reduce overall emergency room visits

Program Operations and Logistics Overview

Proposed Location and Capacity: Hallworth House, 66 Benefit Street, Providence, RI. The Program will open with a capacity of 20 beds with possibility of expansion to another 10 beds in the future.

Client Referrals: Client referrals to the Program will be sent by Thundermist Health Center, Providence Community Health Centers, Lifespan, and the Rhode Island Department of Health. Referrals from other agencies may be considered in partnership with the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and participating Providers. Participation is limited to people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity who reside in Rhode Island.

Services: Clients will be engaged with a treating medical provider who will oversee client care and recovery from illness/ injury. Each client will be offered additional services such as connection to social supports and programs, behavioral healthcare resources, housing navigation support, and medication assisted treatment as needed. Clients will be provided with a single room with 24-hour access to an established bed, three meals per day and ability to store and reheat foods of their choosing, cleaning, laundry service, and the freedom to come and go from the respite as the client chooses within established curfew hours.

Length of Stay: Length of stay will be dependent on the client’s recovery period as determined by the treating provider or will terminate upon the Pilot’s end date, projected to be 5-6 months from Program start, but is variable dependent on available funding. Pilot will be extended in six month increments if successful.