Improving Acute Psychiatric Care for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Mixed Methods...

Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face significant barriers to appropriate psychiatric care, disproportionately utilize emergency departments, and report lower care quality. They are also more likely to display agitation in the form of challenging behaviors. This study evaluated the impact of a didactic training on resident psychiatrist knowledge and comfort in managing agitation in individuals with IDD in acute psychiatric settings.

A 1-h training session was delivered to resident psychiatrists, facilitated by clinicians from a county-level Developmental Disabilities Services. The session focused on communication strategies, agitation management, and local resources. Pre- and post-training surveys were used to assess the knowledge and comfort of residents in caring for this population. A follow-up survey was conducted 1 month later to assess the retention and application of learned skills.

Twenty residents completed both the pre- and post-surveys, with nine participating in the 1-month follow-up. Residents reported that the training improved their comfort identifying, evaluating, and managing agitation in individuals with IDD, as well as teaching others to better manage agitation in this population. Knowledge of available resources and confidence in the ability to care for agitated patients with IDD also improved. At 1 month, most respondents reported applying skills from the training, and confidence in their care abilities remained significantly elevated.

A brief, targeted training significantly improved resident psychiatrists' knowledge and comfort in managing agitation in individuals with IDD. Future efforts should explore expanding training to include all psychiatric care team members and assess long-term impacts on patient care quality.