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25 - Professional training for those working with people with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems
- from Part IV - Policy and service systems
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- By Helen Costello, Senior Researcher, King's College London, The Institute of Psychiatry, Estia Centre – Guy's Hospital, Geraldine Holt, Consultant Psychiatrist, Estia Centre, York Clinic – Guy's Hospital, London, Nancy Cain, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, 300 Crittenden Blvd, Rochester, NY 14642, USA, Elspeth Bradley, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, CANADA, Jennifer Torr, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health, Monash University, Robert Davis, Associate Professor, Department of General Practice Monash University, Niki Edwards, Clinical Coordinator and Lecturer, The University of Queensland, Nick Lennox, Associate Professor, Queensland Centre for Intellectual & Developmental Disability School of Population Health The University of Queensland, Germain Weber, Professor of Psychology, Department of Clinical, Biological and Differential Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna
- Edited by Nick Bouras, King's College London, Geraldine Holt, King's College London
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- Book:
- Psychiatric and Behavioural Disorders in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
- Published online:
- 15 December 2009
- Print publication:
- 15 February 2007, pp 400-411
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- Chapter
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Summary
Introduction
Life in the community for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) implies new roles and responsibilities for professionals providing mental health care to this population. A diverse range of mental health service models have emerged both nationally and internationally to meet these needs. In some cases, emphasis is on the provision of generic mainstream services to individuals with ID, while in others specialist services have been developed, either working independently of or in tandem with generic teams. This variability implies that a variety of professional groups require specialist knowledge for assessing, treating and managing mental health problems in individuals with ID. Very little is written about the education of professionals providing mental health care for this group and there is a lack of recognition of the need for formalized training in mental health and ID from a national and international perspective. Many training programmes appear ad hoc, with the availability and content of most educational initiatives being largely determined by the specific interests of those individuals providing and undergoing training. This chapter reviews the training programmes of three groups of health care professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists and primary care physicians) available in five countries (UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Austria) in relation to mental health problems in individuals with ID. The role of specific institutions and key individuals in increasing the profile of mental health problems in this population is highlighted, factors hindering the development of professional training are identified and recent innovations in curricula are described.