Factors influencing physical healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities: psychiatry multidisciplinary team perspective

Background There is a need for better collaborative care between services to improve healthcare provision for people with intellectual disabilities. In the UK, the learning disability psychiatry multidisciplinary team (MDT) is a specialist team responsible for providing and coordinating care for p...

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Main Authors: Madiha Majid, Stefan Rennick-Egglestone, Bronwyn Harris, Ashok Roy, Hayley Crawford
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2025-07-01
Series:BJPsych Open
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Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472425100513/type/journal_article
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author Madiha Majid
Stefan Rennick-Egglestone
Bronwyn Harris
Ashok Roy
Hayley Crawford
author_facet Madiha Majid
Stefan Rennick-Egglestone
Bronwyn Harris
Ashok Roy
Hayley Crawford
author_sort Madiha Majid
collection DOAJ
description Background There is a need for better collaborative care between services to improve healthcare provision for people with intellectual disabilities. In the UK, the learning disability psychiatry multidisciplinary team (MDT) is a specialist team responsible for providing and coordinating care for people with intellectual disabilities. Aims To document learning disability MDT perspectives on factors influencing healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities. Method Healthcare professionals who were members of a learning disability MDT within a National Health Service Trust in the West Midlands were purposively sampled for interview (n = 11). Participants included psychiatrists, nurses, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. Data were analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s six-stage approach. Results Factors influencing the quality of healthcare provision included: the learning disability MDT working to overcome systemic barriers; the consequences of specific failures within mainstream healthcare services, such as diagnostic overshadowing; inadequate use of information collated in health passports; and inadequate capacity assessments of people with intellectual disabilities. Improvements in healthcare provision for people with intellectual disabilities require better accessibility to healthcare and better training for healthcare professionals so they can understand the health needs of people with intellectual disabilities. Conclusions A rapid review of practices around health passports for people with intellectual disabilities should be conducted. Healthcare professionals working in mainstream healthcare services need an increased awareness of the harms of diagnostic overshadowing and inadequate capacity assessments. Conclusions are based on findings from MDTs within one health board; future work may focus on understanding perspectives from different teams.
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spelling doaj-art-b44bc2e7823f40b6b0a5eca857f6377f2025-08-20T03:30:19ZengCambridge University PressBJPsych Open2056-47242025-07-011110.1192/bjo.2025.10051Factors influencing physical healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities: psychiatry multidisciplinary team perspectiveMadiha Majid0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4954-7798Stefan Rennick-Egglestone1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4187-011XBronwyn Harris2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4695-008XAshok Roy3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8432-981XHayley Crawford4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1147-7029School of Health Sciences, Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, UK Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, Coventry, UKSchool of Health Sciences, Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, UK NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Institute of Mental Health, Nottingham, UKWarwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UKWarwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, Coventry, UKWarwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK Background There is a need for better collaborative care between services to improve healthcare provision for people with intellectual disabilities. In the UK, the learning disability psychiatry multidisciplinary team (MDT) is a specialist team responsible for providing and coordinating care for people with intellectual disabilities. Aims To document learning disability MDT perspectives on factors influencing healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities. Method Healthcare professionals who were members of a learning disability MDT within a National Health Service Trust in the West Midlands were purposively sampled for interview (n = 11). Participants included psychiatrists, nurses, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. Data were analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s six-stage approach. Results Factors influencing the quality of healthcare provision included: the learning disability MDT working to overcome systemic barriers; the consequences of specific failures within mainstream healthcare services, such as diagnostic overshadowing; inadequate use of information collated in health passports; and inadequate capacity assessments of people with intellectual disabilities. Improvements in healthcare provision for people with intellectual disabilities require better accessibility to healthcare and better training for healthcare professionals so they can understand the health needs of people with intellectual disabilities. Conclusions A rapid review of practices around health passports for people with intellectual disabilities should be conducted. Healthcare professionals working in mainstream healthcare services need an increased awareness of the harms of diagnostic overshadowing and inadequate capacity assessments. Conclusions are based on findings from MDTs within one health board; future work may focus on understanding perspectives from different teams. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472425100513/type/journal_articleIntellectual disabilitylearning disabilitypsychiatry of intellectual disabilitymultidisciplinary teamqualitative research
spellingShingle Madiha Majid
Stefan Rennick-Egglestone
Bronwyn Harris
Ashok Roy
Hayley Crawford
Factors influencing physical healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities: psychiatry multidisciplinary team perspective
BJPsych Open
Intellectual disability
learning disability
psychiatry of intellectual disability
multidisciplinary team
qualitative research
title Factors influencing physical healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities: psychiatry multidisciplinary team perspective
title_full Factors influencing physical healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities: psychiatry multidisciplinary team perspective
title_fullStr Factors influencing physical healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities: psychiatry multidisciplinary team perspective
title_full_unstemmed Factors influencing physical healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities: psychiatry multidisciplinary team perspective
title_short Factors influencing physical healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities: psychiatry multidisciplinary team perspective
title_sort factors influencing physical healthcare quality for people with intellectual disabilities psychiatry multidisciplinary team perspective
topic Intellectual disability
learning disability
psychiatry of intellectual disability
multidisciplinary team
qualitative research
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472425100513/type/journal_article
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