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Purpose – There is little research addressing the delivery of training for health professionals who are interested in using cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) techniques as an adjunct to their current role. This paper describes the establishment and evaluation of a CBT training course to develop CBT skills in staff working with people with intellectual disabilities in Trust healthcare settings. The course would enable staff to learn how they could incorporate these skills into their daily practice to help them understand and work more effectively with people with intellectual disabilities. Design/methodology/approach – A CBT training course was designed to teach staff the use of a number of basic and specific CBT techniques and principles that staff could use within their current roles. Specific issues in relation to people with intellectual disabilities were included, e.g. understanding cognitive deficits as well as cognitive distortions. The course ran for six sessions on a fortnightly basis, followed by a two-month follow-up session. Participants completed a pre- and post-assessment questionnaire and kept a reflective diary. Findings – The training clearly focused on teaching skills that were feasible for staff to use in their own work settings. The evaluations, especially from the reflective diaries and the post-course questionnaires clearly demonstrated that this aim was achieved. Originality/value – This was a pilot study as there has been no previously published evidence of using this approach within intellectual disabilities services. A further training course has been planned to continue evaluating the effectiveness of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Social climate (ward atmosphere) affects numerous treatment outcomes. The most commonly used measure is the Essen Climate Evaluation Schema (EssenCES) (Schalast et al., 2008). Though studies have investigated the psychometric properties of EssenCES in intellectual disability populations, few have focused on the clinical utility, or accessibility of the measure. The purpose of this paper is to examine clinician's experiences of using this measure with this population. Design/methodology/approach - Clinicians experienced in administering EssenCES with forensic intellectual disability patients completed an open-ended questionnaire, which sought qualitative data on their experiences of using EssenCES with this population. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings - A number of issues were raised regarding use of EssenCES with patients with intellectual disability. Four overarching themes arose: Understanding of Language, Commenting on Others, Understanding of Likert Scale, and Scale Positives and Adaptation. Clinicians felt certain items were not uniformly understood by all patients, particularly those that incorporated abstract concepts, double negatives, or complex language. Originality/value - Results suggest forensic intellectual disability patients vary in their ability to understand EssenCES items. This resulted in significant further explanation by the administering clinician, a practice which raised concern regarding reliability. Results provide preliminary evidence to indicate EssenCES use requires further consideration in intellectual disability services, or adaptation for this client group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]