Referral patterns to a mental health of intellectual disability team
| Pages | 24-29 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/20441281111142594 |
| Published date | 23 May 2011 |
| Date | 23 May 2011 |
| Author | Ali Ajaz,Mo Eyeoyibo |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care |
Research
Referral patterns to a mental health
of intellectual disability team
Ali Ajaz and Mo Eyeoyibo
Abstract
Purpose – People with an intellectual disability are at an increased risk of developing a mental illness.
An estimated 50 per cent develop a significant psychiatric problem at some point in their lives. Since the
shifting trend to treat and manage individuals in the community setting, there areconcerns over the lack
of guidance of how intellectual disability mental health services in the community should be organised.
This paper aims to address this issue.
Design/methodology/approach – Details of all new referrals made to the mental health of intellectual
disability team in Dartford, Kent over a 12-month period were collated and a questionnaire was used to
gather retrospective data of each referral pathway.
Findings – There were 50 patients referred in total, with the primary source being GPs (58 per cent).
In total, 40 per cent of all referrals were considered to be inappropriate for the mental health of
intellectual disability team and the majority of these originated from the adult mental health and child and
adolescent mental health service teams.
Originality/value – These findings identify areas of focus for closer liaison with colleagues to improve
the quality of referrals and to reduce the demands placed on our service.
Keywords Intellectual disabilities, Mental illness, Learning disabilities
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Peoplewith an intellectualdisability are at an increasedrisk of developinga mental illnesswith a
figure of 50 percent being estimated for those developing a significantpsychiatric problem at
some point in their life (Department of Health, 1998). This population usually has complex
needs,which requirea rangeof healthand social services input.Unfortunately,these servicesin
the past havebeen poorly co-ordinatedand unresponsive to individualneeds (McEvoy,2000).
Regarding mental health, previously the approach was to conduct management of such
patients in long-term NHS hospitals and now there are specialist intellectual disability mental
health units which have been shown to be an effective alternative on measures of severity of
mental illness, global functioning and behaviour impairment, for those who are severely
unwell (Xenitidis et al., 2004). Since the shifting trend to treat and manage individuals in the
community setting, there are concerns over the lack of guidance of how these intellectual
disability mental health services in the community should be organised.
There are numerous considerationsthat play a role in such an organisation and recent studies
have shown that the source of referral has implications upon service provision demand.
A recent study (Maitland et al., 2006) demonstrated that referrals from generic mental health
services (secondary care) were more likely to have a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum
disorder and personality disorder and were more likely to have a mild intellectual disability
than primary care (including social services) referrals. However, it was these referrals from
PAGE 24
j
ADVANCES IN MENTALHEALTH AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
j
VOL. 5 NO. 3 2011, pp. 24-29, QEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2044-1282 DOI 10.1108/20441281111142594
Ali Ajaz is a CT3 Trainee in
Psychiatry and
Mo Eyeoyibo is a
Consultant Psychiatrist in
Learning Disability, both at
the Kent and Medway NHS
and Social Care
Partnership Trust,
Dartford, UK.
The authors would like to thank
Michelle Ball of the Audit
Department, Kent and Medway
NHS and Social Care
Partnership Trust for helping
with the questionnaire.
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