Kenniscentrum Phrenos releases guideline for LVB in mental healthcare

Kenniscentrum Phrenos has released a new guideline titled ‘Inclusive care for clients with an LVB in mental healthcare’ to improve the recognition and treatment of individuals with mild intellectual disabilities (LVB) within the mental healthcare (GGZ) sector.

Research indicates that between 40% and 67% of clients in specialized long-term mental healthcare show signs of an LVB, yet these disabilities are frequently unrecognized. This lack of identification often leads to misdiagnoses, where patients are incorrectly labeled as unmotivated or ‘exhausted from treatment.’ Consequently, many individuals are inappropriately placed in long-term care, crisis services, social shelters, or forensic care.

The guideline was developed as part of a breakthrough project funded by ZonMw, involving ten outpatient and clinical teams from six mental healthcare organizations. The manual is designed to help healthcare teams independently develop improvement plans by utilizing existing methods, guidelines, and interventions to better screen, guide, and treat clients with suspected mild intellectual disabilities.