Background: When adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) require a psychiatric admission, general adult mental health units are often used. Specialist units have emerged recently as a care option but there is only limited evidence of their effectiveness. Thus this study aims to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of a specialist inpatient unit and report on the utilization of generic and specialist inpatient services.
Method: All patients admitted to a specialist ID psychiatric unit were evaluated on admission and immediately after discharge on a number of outcome measures. In addition, they were compared with those admitted to general adult mental health units covering the same catchment area.
Results: Significant improvements were demonstrated within the specialist unit cohort on measures including psychopathology, global level of functioning, behavioural impairment and severity of mental illness. The specialist unit patients had a longer length of inpatient stay but were less likely to be discharged to out-of-area residential placement.
Conclusions: Specialist units are an effective care option for this group of people.