Guest editorial
| Date | 10 July 2017 |
| Published date | 10 July 2017 |
| Pages | 213-214 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-06-2017-0040 |
| Author | David Charnock,Nicola Wright |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Mental health education |
David Charnock and Nicola Wright
A gradual but significant shift has occurred in services for people with intellectual disabilities in the
last half century, in part resulting in a call to mainstream health and social care provision to
improve access. This call envisages services that are responsive to the specific needs of people
with intellectual disability, with knowledgeable staff and appropriate resources to plan and deliver
successful outcomes. Although there has been a concerted focus on change and improved
access in the past 17 years, there remains much work to be done to provide appropriate services
to people with intellectual disabilities who also have mental health problems. The simple
response is that services must change to accommodate these individuals, with adjustments
made to facilitate accurate diagnosis, treatment plans and safe discharge. However, this
simplistic response can often mask the complexities and challenges of delivering care in
mainstream settings to this group. These complexities and challenges require careful
consideration in relation to staff skill, infrastructure to support interdisciplinary working and the
provision of innovative and creative approaches to care.
This special editionaims to address some of the complexitiesand challenges faced in mainstream
mental healthservices in three ways. First,to highlight the specific needsof people with intellectual
disabilities and mental health problems. Second, to promote the importance of interdisciplinary
working and learning in relation to mental wellbeing and intellectual disability, showcasing
innovative approaches to care and finally, to offer a voice to specialists from intellectual disability
practice and research to foster practicaland conceptual thinking in relationto this group of service
users. The six papers in this collection address the important issues for people with intellectual
disabilities and offer help to the staff who support them in mainstream mental health care.
The collection begins with four articles which offer assistance to staff in their encounters with people
with intellectual disabilities in mainstream mental health services. First, an article written by
Standen, Clifford and Jeenkeri aims to help staff in mentalhealth services to recognise peoplewith
intellectual disabilities in their care. The authors have set out to provide a briefing to assist staff in
their assessments and continued support of this group of service users. Drawing on litera turea nd
their own experiences, the authors provide a fascinating starting point on which to build a firm
knowledge base for working with individuals with an intellectual disability and mental health problem.
Moving on from the initial recognition of the person accessing services, Jones, Jeenkeri and
Cutajar present a neurodevelopmental model to assist the mental health practitioner in
extricating the many issues relevant to the provision of services to people with intellectual
disabilities and mental health problems. In doing so, the authors provide the reader with a
framework to improve understanding and assist with the management of the person.
Responding to the absence of a core competency framework in relation to capacity among
mental health professionals providing care to people with intellectual disabilities, Troller,
Eagleson, Weise and McKay provide an account of the development of a framework in
New South Wales. The authors discuss the need for a framework to facilitate an organised
approach to the needs of people with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems. The article
offers motivation for the development of similar frameworks in other mental health services.
This initial group of four articles concludes with an article by Posner, Janssen and Roddam, who
report on a research project on burnout in staff working in mental health services. Refocussing
the reader’s attention from service delivery to the impact of service user complexity and
challenge on staff, the authors’findings uncover ideas to help improve burnout and mental
toughness. Nine strategies are presented as part of the findings of the research, to provide foci
for the delivery of training to mental health professionals.
David Charnock is an Assistant
Professor at the School of
Health Sciences, University of
Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Nicola Wright is based at the
School of Health Sciences,
University of Nottingham,
Nottingham, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JMHTEP-06-2017-0040 VOL. 12 NO. 4 2017, pp. 213-214, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1755-6228
j
THE JOURNAL OF MENTALHEALTH TRAINING, EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
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Guest editorial
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