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Intellectual disability nursing
Individuals with learning disabilities on psychological therapy-waitlist require regular updates on queue position, estimated waiting time and support services to ease their prolonged waits
  1. Meenakshi Shukla
  1. Department of Psychology, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India
  1. Correspondence to Dr Meenakshi Shukla, Department of Psychology, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh, India; dr.meenakshishukla{at}allduniv.ac.in

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2024-103966

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    Commentary on: Hall L. A service evaluation exploring clients’ experiences of being on a waiting list for individual psychological therapy with a community learning disability team. Br J Learn Disabil 2023;1–8. doi.org/10.1111/bld.12564

    Implications for practice and research

    • Implementing waiting-list interventions, offering regular updates on queue position and estimated wait times, and providing information about support services can alleviate the uncertainty of prolonged waits and mitigate dropouts among individuals with learning disabilities and comorbid mental conditions.

    • Further research should pinpoint specific combinations of learning disabilities and comorbid mental health conditions that pose a heightened risk of mental health decline during therapy wait times, necessitating tailored interventions.

    Context

    Prolonged wait times for accessing UK mental health services persist, flouting the National Health Service mandate of an 18-week maximum wait period for referred patients.1 Such delays can significantly harm individuals with learning disabilities and comorbid mental health issues, exacerbating their psychological struggles and compounding their challenges as they await therapy.

    Methods

    The aim of this study, employing a service-evaluation study design, was to explore how people with learning disability and related …

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    Footnotes

    • Funding The author has not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.