Evaluation of the Intellectual Disability and Mental Health Hubs (IDMH Hubs)

The Statewide Tertiary Intellectual Disability and Mental Health Hubs (called ‘Hubs’ for short) are a NSW Ministry of Health IDMH program.

The Hubs aim to develop services to better support people who experience both mental health issues and intellectual disability. The Hubs offer direct support to consumers, and they offer training to health professionals. There are two Hubs, one for children and adolescents, and one for adults.

The Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) together with the Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry (3DN) at UNSW Sydney evaluate the Hubs.

The evaluation assesses the outcomes of the Hub model and how efficient and effective the service processes are. Evaluation methods include:

• Analysis of interviews with Hubs consumers, families and service providers
• Analysis of quantitative data collected by program providers, data linkage and surveys.

The evaluators work with Council for Intellectual Disability (CID) to support research team members with intellectual disability.