The Mental Health Service (MHS) at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) introduced a new Learning Disability Service (LDS) to provide specialist assessment and treatment options for adults with Learning Disability (LD).
The specialist LD Service was piloted in early 2020 but because of COVID-19 restrictions regarding patient visits, the service was only enhanced in December 2020.
The service is now formally launched to support the expansion in mental health service provisions, with a new multi-disciplinary team offering outpatients clinics, community outreach services and consultation-liaison services.
Chair of Psychiatry and MHS Medical Director Dr Majid Al Abdullah explained that challenging behaviour may be an indicator of physical ill-health in people with a learning disability.
These behaviours can include irritable temper outbursts, hitting or kicking other people or throwing things – it can be any type of behaviour that might be harmful to the person and others around them, and stops them achieving things in their daily life, such as making friends or concentrating on a school or work project.
Dr Abdullah said that learning disabilities often encompass communication difficulties and this may contribute to frustration, exhibited in various challenging behaviours. In people with more severe learning disabilities, the behaviours may be a form of communication with others. It is important that every effort is made by family, friends and carers to understand that the individual needs help to communicate and manage their emotions.
Such behaviours, he said, often start in childhood and can become more pronounced in time if left untreated. Modern behavioural therapies and techniques are very effective in many cases, allowing families to cope much better with the disability.
Managing Challenging Behaviours
The service is available for male and female (18 years and older) individuals suffering from all levels of learning disabilities associated with mental health conditions.
According to MHS CEO Iain Tulley, the goal is to provide families with appropriate strategies and effective support in managing their loved one’s severely challenging behaviour.
The LDS receive referrals from Primary Health Care, Hamad Hospital departments and internal referrals from MHS. The team triage referrals every week and arrange to see them within an appropriate environment and time using standardised models of care and prioritisation. Patients admitted to HMC facilities are seen as a consultation-liaison service with their care teams.
LDS also offer education, training and support for families, carers and staff working with LD people with challenging behaviours to build competency in care and improve an individual’s quality of life. Where necessary, the LDS team can act as advocates for the person with LD to ensure their ethical and legal rights are safeguarded.
Learning disability is a lifelong condition that manifests during early childhood and is characterised by deficits in both intellectual and adaptive functioning.
Challenging behaviour considered to be inconsistent with cultural norms is often defined as ‘behaviour(s) of such intensity, frequency or duration that the physical safety of the person or others is placed in serious jeopardy, or behaviour which is likely to seriously limit or deny access to the use of ordinary community facilities’.
For more information about HMC’s mental health-related services, visit hamad.qa. You can also visit sehanafsia.moph.gov.qa for additional details on the national mental health programme.
To access the national mental health helpline, call their toll free number at 16000.
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