Evaluating online teaching on working with people with learning disabilities to high intensity Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) trainees

People with learning disabilities are known to experience barriers to accessing mainstream mental health services, and also, to have higher rates of mental health needs. Training has previously been delivered to mainstream practitioners to enhance their confidence and self-efficacy when working therapeutically with people with learning disabilities and to promote positive attitudes towards working with this group of people (Dagnan et al., 2018; Cantrell & Westbrook, 2019) with positive outcomes on these areas. Our service evaluation was of a one-day online training course to high intensity Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) trainees. It found that the teaching also demonstrated positive change in confidence, self-efficacy and attitudes. Although the percentage increase was smaller than most of those shown in previous studies this was found to be due to a higher baseline for this sample. Ideas for further research were identified including the further exploration of High intensity (IAPT) trainees’ prior experience of working therapeutically with people with learning disabilities and how this could translate into more tailored training. A key recommendation was the use of online training for IAPT trainees and practitioners to be considered as an option due to benefits in terms of the flexibility this offers including training large groups.■We delivered teaching to trainee therapists who work in mental health services.■The teaching was online.■Before the teaching we asked the trainees about their confidence to give therapy to people with learning disabilities and how important they thought it was for mental health services to work with people with learning disabilities.■We asked them the same questions at the end of the teaching.■The trainees were more confident to work with people with learning disabilities after the teaching.■The trainees were more positive about working with people with learning disabilities after the teaching.