Evaluation of a Dialogical Psychologically Informed Environment (PIE) Pilot

The Fulfilling Lives Programme is seeking to help people with multiple and complex needs to better manage their lives, by ensuring that services, across Newcastle and Gateshead, are more tailored and better connected to each other. The focus of the programme is on those people who often spiral around the system(s), are excluded from the support they need and experience a combination of at least three of the following four problems; homelessness; re-offending; problematic substance misuse and mental ill health.
During the early stages of the delivery of the Fulfilling Lives program a systemic problem was identified relating to clients with complex needs finding it difficult to access mainstream mental health services, with a number of reasons given such as alcohol and drug use as well as poor engagement with services. Despite many of these individuals having complex trauma histories and serious mental health problems they did not easily fit into the existing statutory mental health offer. However it was observed that Fulfilling Lives clients were accessing accommodation based and homelessness services and building relationships, and engaging, with the staff in these services.
Fulfilling Lives reflected on these observations from the frontline of service delivery. As a response a literature review was conducted around meeting the psychological needs of homeless people. A growing community of practice was identified around an innovative approach to this longstanding and entrenched system failure. This new approach was called "Psychologically Informed Environments (PIEs)". Supported by three services from within the Fulfilling Lives core partnership (Mental Health Concern and Oasis Aquila Housing) a pilot was delivered looking to introduce three different services to the PIE model.
This report seeks to answer what was the impact of the PIE pilot? and What are the implications for the wider multiple complex needs system? Drawing on interviews and focus groups conducted with staff and managers of all the participating services this report uses learning from the delivery and outcomes of the pilot to provide recommendations for embedding PIE in the wider system.
From Fulfilling Lives - Newcastle & Gateshead