Permanent supportive housing is an evidence-based approach to addressing homelessness that involves access to community-based housing combined with supportive services, such as access to physical and mental health information and care. Little research has examined technological innovations for providing services in housing for vulnerable populations. This interdisciplinary community-based project brings together investigators from computer science and engineering, public health, and social work, and two large housing initiatives in Southern California. The research team is investigating the social and technical challenges of adopting sensor-based technologies, such as tele-mental health services. The project team is exploring the issues using a combination of surveys and an innovative "lean design" approach. Lean design refers to developing a solution in an iterative way with rapid development of prototypes that can be quickly evaluated and the lessons learned applied to the next iteration. This approach includes the community partners in the design and evaluation of technology prototypes.

The project investigates the social and engineering dimensions of three key technologies that can significantly impact how services are delivered: (1) minimally intrusive environment and user-borne sensors to facilitate tele-mental health services and increase safety, (2) privacy-preserving data sharing algorithms that can be tuned to meet the expectations of multiple stakeholders, and (3) mobile user interfaces for accessing the Internet and remote services. Tunable privacy-preserving data sharing algorithms accommodate the different preferences of the multiple stakeholders in permanent supportive housing. The project identifies the social and technological factors that affect the successful use of remote services and combines them into a general model for predicting when tele-services can be effective. This project will lay the groundwork for community-based research to help meet the mental health needs of PSH residents and influence the design of supportive housing units.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.