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Referral patterns to a mental health of intellectual disability team
- Authors:
- AJAZ Ali, EYEOYIBO Mo
- Journal article citation:
- Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 5(3), 2011, pp.24-29.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Noting that people with an intellectual disability are at an increased risk of developing mental illness, this study examined the patterns of referral to a mental health team for adults with an intellectual disability to identify areas for improvement of service provision. It used data from the mental health of intellectual disability team in Dartford, Kent, which was formed in 2008 and comprises doctors, psychologists and specialist community intellectual disability nurses. All new referrals over a 12 month period from June 2008 were examined. The article describes the study methods and results, including source of referrals, eligible cases, referral outcomes and time taken for assessments to occur. 50 patients were referred in total, with the primary source being GPs (58%). Referrals were considered by the clinical team and 40% of all referrals were deemed to be inappropriate. The reason for referral was mainly concerns about mental health (56%) and challenging behaviour (28%). The majority of appropriate referrals were assessed within a 2 to 4 week period. The authors conclude that the findings identify areas of focus for closer liaison with colleagues to improve the quality of referrals and reduce the demands placed on the service.