Open Space is a service that is an alternative to the existing resources for responding to people with psychosocial disabilities who are in critical situations of social exclusion due to a variety of causes and personal reasons. This is done through health and social support based on the agreement and goodwill of the people using the resources. Open Space is fostered by Support-Girona and the state-run Healthcare Institute (IAS). It is aimed at people who may have issues related to the consumption of toxic substances on top of having mental and behavioural disorders with little connection to the Mental Health and Addictions Network. Its users meet the criteria of severe social exclusion, and all its actions are designed to reduce the stigma and other barriers that negatively affect their social and community inclusion. Majority of the people it supports do not have a family, social support, or financial resources, or if they do, they are scarce (i.e., less than 400 Euros per month). Moreover, some of them are in a situation of homelessness or rooflessness.
The innovation lies in the methodology of intervention. Open Space is a facility that can be used voluntarily by individuals who are in a vulnerable condition, and there is no rule limiting their access. The basic rules of operation are: respect among the users and respect for their decisions on the part of the specialists, who take the approach of minimal intervention.
This resource comes equipped with a kitchen, living room, dining room, washing machine, courtyard, and different spaces for showering and maintaining personal hygiene. This is to ensure a safe environment where the person can cover their basic needs of hygiene and food. Once this first phase has been reached, the aim of the intervention model is to encourage the development of personal skills relating to personal well-being, socialisation, and trust in other resources of the local health and social network.
Open Space is attended by specialists from Support-Girona and the IAS and is available from 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. from Monday to Friday, with reduced opening hours over the weekends. During these hours, the users are invited to participate in the centre’s routine activities, such as preparing meals, cleaning, doing laundry, gardening, and organising the space. The spaces and moments of social interaction can be adapted according to the attendance and profile of persons at any given moment.
From homelessness to adequate housing
In two years, more than one hundred people have benefited from this service, 90% of whom have gone from being homelessness or rooflessness to living in adequate housing. Standout achievements of the intervention methodology include the follow-up of medication, reduction of involuntary admissions to psychiatric units, acquisition of healthy life habits, and improvement in the supported person’s socialisation. On average, a user stays in the facility for a period of one year.
The ultimate goal of Open Space is to provide assistance through which the supported persons can develop the capacity to be autonomous without the supervision of specialists.
For its implementation in 2020, Open Space counted on the participation of La Caixa Foundation and Dipsalut. Moreover, in 2021, it received the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) Innovation Award, which recognises innovative European practices for the social inclusion of persons with disabilities.
In Girona, the long psychiatric stay facilities were closed in 2004. In 2022, the process started in Catalonia, which took the community-based model of mental health care in Girona as a reference. Open Space is one of the alternative community resources that was used as an example for the changes that will be gradually implemented in Catalonia in order to convert the current long-stay facilities in mental hospitals.
