The education and training needs of learning disability staff in relation to mental health issues

Abstract

Evidence suggests that people with a learning disability experience mental health problems, and thus many health and social care workers in the field of learning disabilities will come into regular contact with clients with such complex needs. Despite this, many care workers remain unsure about how to recognise or respond to service users’ mental health problems. The primary aim of this study was to explore and identify the current level of knowledge, skill and confidence of learning disability care staff in responding to the mental health needs of the users of their services, in order to be able, subsequently, to design and deliver appropriate educational programmes. Findings suggest that care staff had received little or no training and few had access to screening or assessment tools. As a large number of staff who work with people with a learning disability are nurses, the issues discussed in this paper have important implications for Higher Education Institutions who provide education and training for nurses, particularly in the post-registration arena. However, the challenge for all education providers is to devise programmes that can be of mutual benefit to staff from a range of professional backgrounds and care settings, ultimately to the benefit of service users and their carers.