Collaborative psychosocial case formulation development workshops: a case study with direct care staff

The aim of this study was to provide a pilot evaluation of novel, brief formulation development workshops with direct care staff supporting people with intellectual disabilities who display significant psychosocial difficulties. A series of workshops were designed and delivered to a staff team supporting an individual who had been referred to specialist intellectual disabilities health services. The workshops used a psychosocial framework to facilitate development with care staff of a case formulation for the individual they were supporting. Following the workshops, there were decreases in problematic behaviours displayed by the individual and in the staff team's perception of the severity of these behaviours. The staff team felt that the workshops had had a beneficial impact on their practice. The pilot indicated that the workshops were feasible, positively received and associated with changes in the psychosocial difficulties displayed by the individuals staff were supporting.