Developing a Mental Health Guide for Families and Carers of People with Intellectual Disabilities

Background  Although there is already information available about caring for someone with a mental health problem, there is very little written for families and carers of people with intellectual disabilities. Materials and methods  This paper describes the development of a Guide as such a resource....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities 2007-03, Vol.20 (2), p.77-86
Main Authors: Gratsa, Anastasia, Spiller, Mary Jane, Holt, Geraldine, Joyce, Theresa, Hardy, Steven, Bouras, Nick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caregivers
carers
Families & family life
Focus Groups
Guides
Information
Intellectual disabilities
Intellectually disabled people
Interviews
Mental Disorders
Mental Health
mental health guide
mental health promotion
mental illness
Mental Retardation
Questionnaires
Social workers
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Summary:Background  Although there is already information available about caring for someone with a mental health problem, there is very little written for families and carers of people with intellectual disabilities. Materials and methods  This paper describes the development of a Guide as such a resource. The consultation stage involved interviews and focus groups with families, service users and paid carers (n = 20) to highlight their needs and preferred format. Additional carers (n = 12) completed structured questionnaires to evaluate the Guide. Results  The initial consultation showed that an easily accessible and user‐friendly information resource was needed. The evaluation showed that family carers were satisfied with the Guide, finding it easy to read and covering most of the information required. However, they did highlight areas that needed further detail. Conclusions  The involvement of carers in the development of such resources is essential, emphasizing the benefit of carers’ knowledge and experience to professionals.
ISSN:1360-2322
1468-3148
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-3148.2005.00296.x