Are we training psychiatrists to develop skills in intellectual disability psychiatry? Current European context and future directions.

Marisa Casanova Dias,Mariana Pinto da Costa,Livia De Picker,Alina Petricean,Bhathika Perera,Athanasios Kanellopoulos,Florian Riese,Krzysztof Krysta,Franziska Baessler

doi:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.102

Abstract

The majority of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) and psychiatric disorders access mainstream mental health services across Europe. However, only 56% of countries provide postgraduate psychiatric training in ID according to a survey across 42 European countries. We explore the challenges of ID training and make recommendations for education and health policymakers.

Highlights

The provision of services is often poorly planned and does not necessarily match the needs of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) [4,5,6]
The WHO Atlas on global resources for persons with ID [4] reports that the percentage of countries in Europe reporting specific training in ID for psychiatrists was 46.8%
A review of ID training in health sciences across Europe found that studies in this field are scarce in Europe compared with other parts of the world [7]

Summary

Introduction

The provision of services is often poorly planned and does not necessarily match the needs of people with ID [4,5,6]. The only survey done so far that covered postgraduate psychiatry ID training was done in 2004 and only covered 22 countries, out of which only 14 (64%) reported structured ID training [8]. A European Survey of Postgraduate Psychiatry Training

Results

Conclusion