A survey of consultant psychiatrists in intellectual disability based in England

Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities,Volume 10, Issue 4, July 2016. Purpose Community mental health services are of increasing importance for people with an intellectual disability (ID), as the Government aims to reduce the number of people treated within inpatient services. However, due to limited evidence base, it is unclear which service models are most effective for treating people with both ID and a mental health condition. Therefore, we carried out a survey in order to gain a better understanding of the current state of ID community services. Design/methodology/approach The survey was emailed to 310 consultant psychiatrists based in England and whose main specialism was in ID. In total 65 consultants responded to the survey with 53 complete datasets. Findings 84% of consultants identified themselves as working in a generic community ID team. The majority of services were not integrated with social care (71%). Regional differences were found. In contrast to the rest of England, the majority of services in London were integrated with social care. The HoNOS-LD was found to be the most common outcome measure used by services. A range of interventions are widely available across services including psychological therapies and specialist memory assessments. The survey also provides evidence for increased decommissioning of specialist inpatient units and a need for more robust community services. Research limitations/implications Findings limited by low r...
Source: Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities - Category: Disability Source Type: research