Using Evidence-Based Measures to Assess the Effectiveness of Residential Mental Health Rehabilitation for Adults With Dual Disabilities

AIMS: The Transitional Support Unit (TSU) is a unique 10-bed state-wide service and currently operates as one of two community-based long-term mental health services in Victoria. TSU is geared towards adults with complex mental health disorders in addition to a co-occuring intellectual disability or acquired brain injury--also referred to as a dual disability (DD). The aim of this project is to identify the benefits of this service to participants in order to improve the current structure and also to encourage development and expansion of similar services in Australia or globally. METHODS: The project was performed at the TSU. Participants included all previous and current residents of the TSU program (N = 24). Data were collected from three different evidence-based measures; the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNoS), Lifestar, and the Life Skills Profile (LSP). Each participant had these scales performed on admission, at time of discharge, and at 91 day intervals throughout their stay at TSU. The change in the measures were used to determine what clinical benefit, if any, resulted from undergoing engagement with the TSU program. Inclusion criteria was broad and encompassed any adult who had a DD and was admitted into TSU. Exclusion criteria was defined as any TSU resident with no completed discharge scales for comparison. RESULTS: On review, it was found that on average, there was an overall decrease in HoNoS scores from admission to discharge of 4 points. For the LSP, there was an average decrease of 10 points in TSU participants and the Lifestar was found to have an average increase of 20 points. Within Lifestar specifically, participants were found to have an average improvement between 1.64 and 2.94 in each individual category assessed. No TSU participants were observed to suffer from any decline or step back in categories related to how they spent their time, feeling good about themselves, or the people they knew. CONCLUSION: TSU does appear to have notable benefit for adults with DD, particularly in improving overall mood, social interaction, and development of a routine as well as activities throughout the day. The least improvement was found in categories such as physical health and communication. The data were limited by participants who have not yet been discharged from TSU, therefore any discharge scales were unavailable for comparison.