Approximately 5,000 people use Clubhouse in New York, according to the city.
Clubhouse has served as a mental health service for more than 75 years, and New York City officials say it’s “on our doorstep.”
This model invites people with depression or other mental health conditions into a temporary home, where they are surrounded by peers and counselors and provided with resources and employment training tailored to their condition.
“That place is community therapy,” New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan told ABC News. “It acts as an anchor.”
Two weeks ago, the New York City Department of Health announced that it would invest $30 million in clubhouse additions, doubling its previous investment.
Catherine Keyes, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, told ABC News that not only has Clubhouse been successful in helping patients get back on their feet, but it has also been shown to be effective in reducing hospitalizations and incarceration. He said he welcomed the city’s announcement because research shows that.
Keyes said the city’s new funding is “likely to make a difference.”
The first clubhouse was the Fountain House in Manhattan, founded in 1948 when former psychiatric hospital patients decided to meet informally to discuss their conditions, Wasan said.
Over the years, Clubhouse’s model continued to be refined as psychiatrists, social workers, and mental health professionals added their expertise and techniques to the meetings.
Keyes said the clubhouse model is a great system for patients who need a holistic approach to treatment and recovery.
“This clubhouse model allows for not only tailored courses of care, but also courses that address the social determinants of mental health and a sense of being part of a community,” she said.
Fountainhouse’s methods have become effective and have been imitated by other mental health groups. Currently, there are 16 clubhouses in New York City and more than 200 across the United States, Vasan said.
Approximately 5,000 people are served at New York City Clubhouse, according to the health department.
Vasan added: the study Shows that clubhouses can help reduce the number of hospitalizations and incarcerations in local cities.
“If someone shows signs of being in crisis, this community can help them get through it,” he says.
The commissioner acknowledged that despite Clubhouse’s benefits, the city had not done enough to encourage the model’s growth.
“It was a stigma,” Vasan said of the city’s previous lack of support for the clubhouse. “It’s not just bias at an interpersonal level or bias at an institutional level. We have not prioritized the needs of people with severe mental illness.”
But over the past decade, the city health department has been looking at new mental health treatment models, such as clubhouses, Vasan said.
As part of the proposal, the health department will consider establishing a clubhouse that will focus on “improving the quality of the clubhouse, improving the member experience and expanding referral pathways to support people with severe mental illness.” A request for proposals has been issued to organizations in the area.
The Ministry of Health said it expects an additional 3,700 people to join the Clubhouse program with the new funding.
“What are we going to build and strengthen this model that we have in front of us into the future?” Vasan said.
Keys said funding is critical to the success of the clubhouse model, as treatments require significant resources, people and time to be effective.
“In any type of healthcare setting, it’s not enough to just provide the facility itself; you have to manage all the different aspects of that community space,” she said.
Vasan said he believes additional funding for city clubhouses will make a difference and hopes other cities around the world can do the same.
“It’s about improving the system. We’re starting to turn on the faucet after decades of draining the resources of this system,” Vasan said.
