The Netherlands has about 1.1 million people with a low IQ, according to an estimate by the Social and Cultural Planning Office. This includes people with an IQ between 50 and 70 and people with an IQ between 70 and 85 who have problems with social self-reliance. This group is therefore extra vulnerable to psychological disorders, but is not adequately treated or referred to care for the disabled.
Frank Bluiminck, former chairman of the Vereniging Gehandicaptenzorg Nederland (VGN), says in an article in Zorgvisie that people with an IQ between 70 and 85 are the blind spot of society. ‘They come to the attention of healthcare professionals relatively late. This group is referred too quickly to care for the disabled, with the risk that psychological complaints will remain untreated.’ Bluiminck would like to see more collaboration between the Ghz and the mental health care, in which both the knowledge and skills of counseling people with a mild intellectual disability and the expertise of psychological problems come together.
shredded
Vilans researchers Béatrice Dijcks and Nathalie Stolwijk have established that there is already a great deal of knowledge about psychological problems in people with intellectual disabilities, but that this knowledge is fragmented and therefore not always easy to find. ‘Moreover, it mainly concerns knowledge about people with a mild intellectual disability. There is still a lack of knowledge about recognizing and determining psychological problems in people with moderate to (very) severe intellectual disabilities and what is needed in terms of guidance and treatment. The knowledge overview can serve as a source for programming and/or carrying out future research.’
Knowledge overview
Vilans’ Knowledge Overview for psychological problems and intellectual disabilities can help bring knowledge and skills together. The overview can serve as a source for programming and/or carrying out future research. The knowledge overview is an in-depth study of the Long-term Care Knowledge Infrastructure programme, which aims to bring practice and science in long-term care closer together.