A Feasibility Cluster RCT Involving SPECTROM Staff Training Program to Help Reduce the Overmedication of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Introduction</b> <p class="MsoNormal">We coproduced SPECTROM (Short-term Psycho-Education for Carers To Help Reduce the OverMedication of people with intellectual disabilities) (https://spectrom.wixsite.com/project) training for support staff (direct care workers) to help reduce the overmedication of people with intellectual disabilities. <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Methods</b> <p class="MsoNormal">A multisite feasibility cluster randomized controlled trial involving SPECTROM training. <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Results</b> <p class="MsoNormal">Overall, 39 clusters were recruited (26 in the SPECTROM training and 13 in the control group). Antipsychotic medicine dose was reduced among 19% of prescriptions in the training group at 6 months post-training follow-up compared with 6% in the non-training group. PKQ-R (Psychotropic Knowledge Questionnaire-Revised) and MAVAS-R-ID (Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale-Revised-Intellectual Disabilities) scores showed a statistically significant improvement at 4 weeks of follow-up (<i>p</i> &lt; .001). The focus groups revealed that the trainees found the SPECTROM acceptable, practical, and relevant to their practice. <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Conclusions</b> <p class="MsoNormal"/>The findings of the current feasibility study support progression to a larger and more definitive RCT.<br/>