It's Mental Health month too: resources

October is not only Down Syndrome Awareness month, in Australia it is also Mental Health month - the co-incidence is an excellent reminder to attend to the mental health needs of people with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities, and to remind you of resources those efforts:

Journal of Mental Health for Children and Adolescents with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: An Educational Resource, Volume Six, Issue Two, October 2015

Published by School Link, a project supporting the mental health of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities at the Children's Hospital Westmead

Summary of contents of this issue:

• The Developmental Psychiatry Clinic by Associate Professor David Dossetor
• Introducing the Practice Improvement Framework by Katelynd Turner
• The Medicine Cabinet: Propranolol by Judy Longworth
• Taking Time: A Trauma Informed Framework for Supporting People with Intellectual Disability by Jackson and Waters
• Occupational Therapy and working with children and adolescents with intellectual/developmental disability and mental health problems by Sarah White
• Learning and Support Teams by Department of Education

Available to read online for free

Accessible Mental Health Services for People with an Intellectual Disability: A Guide for Providers (otherwise known asThe Guide) was developed by UNSW researchers in 2014, providing a national framework for action for all frontline mental health service professionals. 

"Approximately 400,000 Australians live with an intellectual disability and they are two to three times more likely than the general population to experience mental health problems, like depression and schizophrenia," says UNSW Chair of Intellectual Disability Mental Health Associate Professor Julian Trollor, who is one of the Guide's authors. 

"Despite this, many Australian mental health professionals report that they feel ill-equipped and lack confidence in assessing, supporting and managing people with an intellectual disability," says Associate Professor Trollor, who also heads the Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry (3DN) at UNSW Medicine. 

"The current services are not meeting the needs of patients. This new Guide, which is a practical resource underpinned by human rights principles, will go some way to tackle this by supporting mental health practitioners to provide the highest quality of care and timely access to services for people with an intellectual disability." 

The pioneering resource encourages a co-ordinated approach across various service sectors and is available at the Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry 3DN website.


Easy English Mental Health Fact Sheet
NSW Council for Intellectual Disability publishes a range of Fact Sheets on health topics, including Mental Health, in Easy English. NSW CID is plays a significant role in mental health advocacy for people with intellectual disability in NSW.

In this fact sheet you can find: 

• What is mental health? 
• What is a sign I need help with my mental health? 
• It’s OK to reach out for help. 
• What can help me to feel better?
• What causes mental health problems? 
• Who gets mental health problems?  
• Some names of mental health problems.

Earlier posts on this blog tagged under 'mental health'