1.5 million for research into young people with mild intellectual disabilities

13 November 2019

Researchers from the Radboudumc and Radboud University will partner with social organisations to map how often young people with mild intellectual disabilities have psychological problems and how they can be treated. The project was recently awarded a subsidy of 1.5 million euro by ZonMw.

So far, little research has been carried out for and with young people with mild intellectual disabilities. That is why more research that looks into  psychological problems in this group is urgently needed. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) describes a mild intellectual disability as a ‘neurobiological developmental disorder in which there are limitations in intellectual and self-reliant functioning’.

No reliable figures

There are no reliable figures in the Netherlands on the number of young people with this diagnosis. Additionally, hardly any information is available about the risk and protective factors that influence their functioning, despite the fact that there are large, leading population studies and clinical cohorts in the Netherlands with suitable data to gain insight into this.
In this new project, researchers will bundle and analyse data from these studies. They will use the results to optimize treatment and monitor patients with an innovative, person-oriented method: the iamYu app. iamYu is currently competing for the 2019 medical inspiration prize.

Joint initiative

The project application was awarded the subsidy under the ZonMw grant call titled 'Long-term cohort study into early recognition and treatment in mental health care'. The project is a joint initiative of the Academic Workplace Kayak (in particular Dr. Mariëlle Dekker and Dr. Wouter Groen), main applicant Prof. Roy Otten (Radboud University, Pluryn), project leader Dr. Nanda Rommelse (Radboudumc, Karakter) , co-project leader Dr Catharina Hartman (UMCG), the aforementioned clinical institutions and leading population studies, and interest groups Zorgbelang Inclusive, LFB, and patient association KansPlus.