Clinical capacity of Australian and New Zealand psychiatrists who work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Abstract

To describe the characteristics and clinical capacity of Australian and New Zealand psychiatrists working in intellectual and developmental disability mental health (IDDMH). Consultant psychiatrists (n=71) with an interest or expertise in IDDMH completed an online survey about their roles, experience and time spent in intellectual developmental disability (IDD)-related activities. Psychiatrists had worked in IDDMH for a median of 11.34 years and half (53.5%) reported expertise in the area. One-fifth of psychiatrists reported IDDMH as their main area of practice. The majority of respondents (85.1%) reported that they were working clinically with people with IDD. Respondents practicing clinically worked a median of 8 hours in clinical and 3 hours in non-clinical IDD-related work per week. Surveyed psychiatrists had considerable experience in IDDMH. However, their work in IDDMH represented a relatively small proportion of their overall work hours, and a minority of respondents were responsible for a large proportion of clinical work. Exploring ways to broaden capacity is crucial to ensuring the mental health needs of people with IDD are met.