I was in a 24 hour supported hostel for 8 months. It was really helpful. Basically there were a number of staff on during the day and one stayed overnight, you could wake them up if you needed to. It was a third sector organisation so they didn't have your notes but they were in close contact with the mental health team and came to CPAs and what not. They basically helped with everything; money, mental health, practical things. At mine you could pretty much have as many 1:1s as you needed but also had teh freedom of being able to come and go unlike hospital. They can manage medication if needed. It's basically like hospital in the level of support you get but there aren't th same restrictions and because of this you have to take responsibility of yourself. There were 5 other residents with various issues and mental health problems. It was a bit like a therapeutic community in that you cooked together in the evening and were expected to do cleaning daily (which was a bit annoying if you had other things to do but understandable that you contributed). Downsides were you don't have that much time to yourself but that also means you weren't isoalted and you obviously got your own room.
Is there anything specific you want to know? All places are going to be different so I can't predict what yours would be like but that's the general gist. Overall it helped me loads and I've not been in hospital since (although I've only been moved out for 6 weeks!). You can work on a lot of issues whilst you're there and really improve your mental health and gain independence.
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