Accessible leaflets on psychotropic medication for people with mild intellectual disabilities developed in a coproduction method

Purpose In intellectual disability healtcare, providing accessible information on treatment proposals is a necessary part of shared decision-making. However, although the medication use of especially psychotropic drugs is high, people with intellectual disability often lack knowledge about these prescriptions. Accessible written medication information is often not available. The authors aimed to fill this gap. Design/methodology/approach Four individuals with intellectual disability (the panel), their coach, pharmacists and intellectual disability healthcare professionals/researchers collaborated in this inclusive research project. A coproduction method was used. The healthcare professionals/researchers developed a set of 64 Dutch leaflets on psychotropic drugs for use in people with intellectual disability based on 29 accessible English leaflets. A checklist for the panel was developed to review each leaflet draft. The drafts were adapted according to the panel’s recommendations. The final drafts were presented in a meeting of the project group and stakeholders. Findings The main adaptations in the drafts were textual changes, including adding headings and frequent side effects and layout changes in photos and colours. The results of the checklists and stakeholders’ feedback revealed that the quality and accessibility of the leaflets overall were very clear. Research limitations/implications More (inclusive) studies are needed to investigate whether the use of the leaflets is effective in improving the patients’ medication knowledge and shared decision-making. Originality/value Stakeholders welcomed the availability of accessible leaflets on psychotropic medication. This methodology could be used by other professionals to develop similar accessible information for their own populations.