Behaviours that challenge in adults with intellectual disability: Overview of assessment and management (Rudra, 2022)

Hassiotis Angela Rudra Sonya. 

BJPsych Advances 2022;28(6): 393-400. 

Available online at this link 

Up to a fifth of people with intellectual disabilities display challenging behaviour that has a significant impact on their health and quality of life. Psychotropic medication does not appear to confer any clinical benefits beyond risk reduction in acute situations. However, very few non-pharmacological treatments have clear evidence of clinical and cost-effectiveness and there is therefore often a dearth of advice as to which components or interventions would be helpful. To our knowledge no single model has been developed to provide a clear path from understanding the behaviour to the implementation of a therapeutic approach for such a complex clinical problem. In this article we describe a stepped-care model that needs to be further operationalised in the assessment and management of behaviours that challenge in adults with intellectual disabilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)