Abstract
The objectives of this presentation are to: 1) present information on the challenges faced by psychiatry practitioners in providing effective, ethical, and evidence-based pharmacological treatment to individuals with intellectual developmental disorders (IDDs) during the sudden disruption of care due to COVID-19; and 2) discuss steps taken to overcome these challenges and how they could positively inform future care. A review of the current evidence-based literature on this topic along with a presentation of real-life cases from the presenter’s clinical practice of youth with IDD and severe complex behaviors will be completed. Ethical and treatment-related legal dilemmas will be discussed. Participants will gain understanding of the successful adaptations to traditional mental health care that was made during the COVID-19 pandemic and gain ideas on incorporating some of these helpful strategies moving forward in providing treatment to these families with special needs. The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionally affected families of youth with IDD. Sudden disruption in skill building and behavioral therapies along with academic and in-home supports led to worsening of problem behaviors and mental health conditions in these individuals. Psychiatrists were placed in the role of managing rapid decompensation of symptoms while adapting to newer ways of providing care without the usual community supports available to these families, which included being creative about utilizing pharmacological interventions to manage worsened and unmasked mental health symptoms in this population.
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