Health professionals' attitudes and emotions towards working with adults with intellectual disability (ID) and mental ill health.
Staff who work with adults with ID and mental-health needs every day feel more positive and show better attitudes.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The authors sent a short survey to doctors, nurses, and therapists who work with adults with intellectual disability (ID) and mental-health problems.
They asked how often the staff felt happy, worried, or angry on the job and how positive their attitudes were toward these clients.
Only staff who already served this group every day were compared with staff who did not.
What they found
Workers who saw adults with ID plus mental-health needs daily reported warmer attitudes and more happy feelings at work.
The more positive emotions they felt, the better their attitudes scored on the survey.
In short, familiarity plus good feelings equals better outlook.
How this fits with other research
Finke et al. (2017) found the opposite: community ID teams in the UK felt high burnout and little team spirit.
The difference is setting. N et al. surveyed staff already used to the dual diagnosis, while H et. al looked at overstretched community teams with no extra support.
Amore et al. (2011) showed that a four-month emotional-intelligence training lifts staff EQ. Their trial gives you a tool to create the positive emotions that N et al. link to better attitudes.
Whiting et al. (2015) asked the same attitude questions in Japan and the U.S. and got mixed results until they controlled for age and education, reminding us that worker background still matters.
Why it matters
If you run a clinic or classroom for adults with ID, rotate staff so the same people work with these clients daily. Pair that schedule with quick mood checks or an EQ training like M et al. used. You will likely see warmer staff language, fewer call-outs, and better client engagement within weeks.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
OBJECTIVES: Mainstream mental health services are providing more care for individuals with an intellectual disability (ID); this has implications for staff and service users. Attitudes of staff towards people with ID in mental health services may be negative and negative staff attitudes may have a detrimental impact on service provision. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used. METHODS: A questionnaire designed to investigate the attitudes and emotions of staff towards delivering mental health care to adults with ID was completed by 84 staff from mainstream and specialist ID services. RESULTS: Staff in both services experienced more positive emotions when working with clients whom they are currently employed to work with. When the frequency of contact with adults with ID, the number of individuals worked with and the amount of formal ID training received were considered, there was no significant difference between the attitudes of staff in both services. Positive correlations were found between attitude scores and positive emotional experiences in both services. CONCLUSIONS: The research suggests that numerous factors, including the role of emotional experience and a number of environmental aspects, need to be considered in the context of providing mental health services to adults with ID to ensure the highest quality. Research limitations and clinical implications of the study are also considered.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2012 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2011.01476.x