Introduction to Mental Health and Mental Wellbeing for Staff Supporting Adults with Intellectual Disabilities
People with an intellectual disability (learning disability) are more likely to experience mental health difficulties than the wider population, for a wide variety of reasons. In addition, noticing and diagnosing a mental illness may be complex, and getting the right kind of help and support challenging. This accessible training resource and accompanying guide has been developed to provide thorough introductory training to a range of care and support staff who work with adults with intellectual disabilities. The aim of the resource is to provide learners with an understanding of the mental health needs of this population and to promote mental health and wellbeing. The flexible training has been developed in conjunction with three leading centres of expertise in clinical practice and teaching on this topic: The Estia Centre, and London South Bank University. It is based on training practice and evaluation of courses run by the Estia Centre with a wide variety of staff and is informed by the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities and mental health needs themselves, making it the only teaching resource of its kind.
These engaging training materials will also be of value to clinicians and support professionals relatively new to either mental health or intellectual disability, as well as students undertaking relevant courses. The training includes a full PowerPoint presentation and a separate guide Introduction to Mental Health and Mental Well-being for Staff Supporting Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: A guide for professionals, support staff and families in both hard copy and digital format. In addition, video clips of the insights of people with intellectual disabilities who have experienced mental health issues give voice to the experiences and insights of people directly affected by the issues discussed.