Students Who Participated :

• 24 third year BScN students from the University of Western Ontario placed with a variety of agencies, coalitions, and survivor groups, to learn about community development, capacity building and health promotion strategies.
• 3 third year BScN students from the University of Western Ontario assisting with data entry and other activities.
• 1 MScN student from the University of Western Ontario.
• 1 fourth year BScN student from the University of Western Ontario.
• 1 Social Work student from King's College, UWO

Outcomes of the CURA Project :

• It revealed that psychiatric survivors face a variety of interrelated problems, which have an adverse effect on economic status and housing options.
• It showed that homelessness is not a personal problem – it is the result of broader systemic social issues.
• In involved full participation of community members.
• Consumers and community participants were co-authors of several papers.
• Findings contributed to Ontario Disability Support Program’s decision to allow direct payments to landlords and direct deposits – several clients were saved from homelessness because of this policy change.
• It led to the establishment of a new coalition of community stakeholders from Western University, Ontario Works, and two hospitals to study the issue of discharge to shelters from psychiatric wards.