How Should Community Mental Health of Intellectual Disability Services Evolve?

Services for people with Intellectual Disability (ID) and coexisting mental health problems remain undeveloped; research into their effectiveness has been lacking. Three linked recent studies in the UK have provided evidence on essential service provision from staff, service users and carers. Interfaces with mainstream mental health services were seen as problematic: the area of crisis response was seen as a particular problem. Further services’ research is needed, focusing on service components rather than whole service configurations. There was not support for establishing more intensive mental health services for people with ID only. The way forward is in developing new ways of co-working with staff in “mainstream” mental health services. Mental health of ID staff might often be best situated directly within these services.