Beyond the psychometrics: harnessing clinical psychology to improve the well-being of inpatient intellectual disability teams

Beyond the psychometrics: harnessing clinical psychology to improve the well-being of inpatient intellectual disability teams Elysia Megan Walker, Yasmine Olabi, Kelly Rayner-Smith Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, pp.- Nursing teams supporting people with intellectual disabilities in inpatient settings are known to be vulnerable to burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. Aspects such as resourcing, support, training and the fundamental challenges of supporting this patient group are known risk factors for these difficulties. The aim of this paper is to synthesise the literature on these issues and provide suggestions for operationalising solutions. Literature on the experiences of nursing teams supporting people with intellectual disabilities in inpatient settings was considered, alongside the established offer of clinical psychologists working into these services. There are common themes of staff’s emotional health and the impact this can have on patient care and the steps that managers and organisations can take to support their teams to remain emotionally healthy, compassionate and effective practitioners. Clinical psychology can play a role in offering this support only where services and teams are aware of the contribution they can make. Clinical psychology has been undersold and under-represented in inpatient settings for people with intellectual disab...
Source: Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities - Category: Disability Authors: Source Type: research