Children and young people with intellectual disability are at significantly greater risk of having mental disorders than children without intellectual disability. It is therefore important that staff within Child and Youth Mental Health Services (CYMHS) are adequately trained to respond to the mental health problems of children and young people with intellectual disability.
This project involves the planning, development, delivery and evaluation of an intellectual disability mental health training framework for child and youth mental health clinicians across NSW.
Through this project we hope to improve the quality of mental healthcare for children with intellectual disability.
Demand for NSW specialist mental health services for children and young people has been increasing disproportionately to other age groups over the last decade. It is expected that the growth in demand for CYMHS will continue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. So it’s more important than ever to ensure the best quality of mental healthcare for children with intellectual disability.
For this project, we are collaborating with the Developmental Psychiatry Team at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network and the Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry Services at UNSW, with funding from the NSW Ministry of Health.
Project team
Dr Jenna Zhao, Makrina Tsinoglou, Tahli Hind, Michaela Kobor, Prof Julian Trollor, 3DN UNSW Sydney.
A/Prof David Dossetor, Ms Jodie Caruana, Ms Hebah Saleh, Dr Vinita Bansal, Developmental Psychiatry Team, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.
Prof Valsamma Eapen, Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry Services, UNSW Sydney.
