Summary:
The Clubhouse model of psychosocial rehabilitation was developed in 1948 in New York City by Fountain House, a nonprofit mental health organization, to provide people with serious mental illness (SMI) with opportunities for friendship, employment, housing, education, and social skills. There are now 370 clubhouses worldwide and 16 in California, but most are standalone rather than associated with clinical services. Westside Community Services, a behavioral health safety-net provider, provides clinical care to people with SMI across San Francisco. In 2022, they sought to pilot their own Clubhouse program, co-located with one of their clinics in downtown San Francisco, in order to improve patient outcomes.
Atlas Clarity obtained a planning grant from the California Health Care Foundation to support Westside’s Clubhouse pilot program and financial planning process. With this grant, Atlas Clarity conducted semi-structured interviews with Westside staff and candidate Clubhouse members, identified and hired a finance consultant to draft a financial sustainability plan for the Clubhouse, and developed materials for an Advisory Committee that was overseeing the Clubhouse. Finally, Atlas Clarity developed a research program plan and data collection tools to track both member outcomes and staff experience in the Clubhouse. The Westside Clubhouse has now been successfully established, and Atlas Clarity continues to lead its research program.