Two Statewide Intellectual Disability Mental Health Hubs have been established to help people with intellectual or developmental disability access appropriate mental health care. One hub is for children and young people, and one hub is for adults. Both are funded by NSW Health.
The hubs offer:
The NSW Mental Health Commission reports that approximately 125,000 people in NSW live with intellectual disability and up to 40 per cent of this population will experience a mental health condition within their lifespan.
Referrals are needed to access hub services and can be made by paediatricians, child psychiatrists or a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) clinician.
Consumers and carers work closely with their referring clinician when accessing the hubs, and the consumer's referring clinician is responsible for ongoing care.
There are different types of help at the hubs, based on the teams and the consumer's or clinician's needs:
The Sydney Children's Hospital Network Mental Health and Intellectual Disability Hub is a statewide service for children and teens under age 18 with intellectual or autism spectrum disorders, or both, who also have mental health issues.
The hub is run by the Developmental Psychiatry Team within the Department of Psychological Medicine at the Children's Hospital at Westmead. It is under the governance of Sydney Local Health District.
Find more information about how to access this hub, eligibility and referral forms on:
The Statewide Intellectual Disability Mental Health Outreach Service helps adults with intellectual or developmental disability access appropriate mental health care.
The hub is based at Concord Repatriation General Hospital, with a clinical space for assessments located at Croydon Community Health Centre. It is under the governance of Sydney Local Health District.
Priority for services will be given to consumers who do not have access to a Specialist Intellectual Disability Health Team or other specialist Intellectual Disability Mental Health Services.
Mental health practitioners will work closely with the consumer, their families and carers to adapt the communication style to meet the needs of the consumer.
In specialist services for people with intellectual disability, communicating needs can be much more complex and may rely on subtle behavioural and nonverbal cues. These skills enable the clinicians to work and communicate directly with the person, as well as their carers and support networks.
Additionally, information may be presented in different ways, evidence based adaptive therapies are used and specialist skills in positive behaviour management are available.
Evidence indicates that people with both intellectual disability and mental health conditions experience:
The identification of a significant gap in mainstream and specialist service capacity for people who experience both intellectual disability and mental health problems was noted in:
The hubs' services aim to address the barriers facing people with intellectual disability and mental health problems by:
The hubs also offer workforce development, professional development opportunities and education for health and disability professionals interested in learning more about providing evidence based and effective mental health care for people with intellectual disability. Find out more information about scholarships, professional opportunities, tools and resources.
NSW Health hopes to improve the types and quality of mental health care available to people with intellectual disability by funding the Chair in Intellectual Disability Mental Health.
Professor Julian Trollor is the inaugural Chair in Intellectual Disability Mental Health at the University of NSW. Professor Trollor has held this role since 2009 and has developed research, tools and resources to help mental health clinicians work with people with intellectual disability.
The Statewide Intellectual Disability Mental Health Hubs were launched by the Hon. Bronnie Taylor MLC, Minister for Mental Health, Regional Youth and Women on 24 February 2021. The videos below are from this event, and include valuable information about each of the hubs, and the story that led to the development of the specialist services.
Transcript: Statewide Intellectual Disability Mental Health Outreach Service (SIDMHOS)
