Mental health services for people with intellectual disability in residential care in Israel. Trends for 1998-2006

Persons with intellectual disability (ID) have been observed to have more mental health problems than the general population. This study was conducted to study mental health services for persons with ID (all ages) in residential care in Israel.An annual questionnaire sent to the medical clinics in all residential care centers for the period 1998-2006 was analyzed to study the trends over time in the number of recruited psychiatrists, psychiatric medication, and hospitalization for persons with ID in residential care in Israel. The results showed an increased number of psychiatrists working with this population-from 6.14 psychiatrists per 1,000 study population in 1998 to 7.75 in 2006. Psychotropic medication also increased from 46% to 51% over the same period, and psychiatric in-patient hospitalization increased from 5.48 to 7.75 per 1,000 study population. We conclude that the psychiatric services to this residential care population have increased over the study period. We see a need for a formal subspecialty in psychiatry, training, and research.