Community Mental Health Services

The closure of institutions has seen Western governments move at different paces towards community care for people with intellectual disability. For some specialist community mental health care for this group is still an aspiration. In the last 30 years a number of models to deliver community care, e.g. assertive outreach, intensive care and generic services, have been developed. However these titles have caused confusion as they are often interchanged, making it difficult to know what services actually provide. In intellectual disabilities specialist mental health services, the debate has often centred on the point of delivery and by whom. These models have relied on interfaces and more recently care pathways which record an individual’s journey. This chapter examines these issues and looks at the development of an evidence base for community mental health services for people with intellectual disabilities and examines key issues to develop future models based on research evidence and patient feedback.