Accessible summary Mindfulness helps people focus instead of worrying about the past or future. We talked to six people who took part in a mindfulness group. They all had intellectual disabilities and were in hospital for mental health problems. They told us the group helped, and we hope that mindfulness can help other people too. Summary The study focused on the effectiveness of group mindfulness for people with intellectual disabilities in an assessment and treatment unit. Six participants with mild or moderate intellectual disabilities were interviewed using semi‐structured interviews. The interviews focused on identifying the benefits and difficulties of using mindfulness. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Five themes were identified which were categorised into interpersonal (‘helping people’) and intrapersonal (‘focusing on one particular thing’; ‘improving skills’; get rid of all nasty bad stuff you want to get rid of’) benefits. The theme ‘bit too late to teach old dog new tricks’ captured the difficulties encountered. The themes highlighted that people with intellectual disabilities were able to form an understanding of mindfulness and were able to benefit from the intervention.

Purpose There is a need to evaluate an adapted Equipping Youth to help One Another (EQUIP) programme for people with intellectual disabilities and forensic needs. The purpose of this paper is to explore a service user’s experience of completing the intervention as part of their transition into the community. Design/methodology/approach A collaborative case report was used. Following hospital discharge and completion of the adapted EQUIP programme, one service user with mild intellectual disability was supported to share their treatment experiences using participatory action research. Findings Findings suggest that while the adapted community EQUIP group can support skills acquisition (e.g. problem-solving), discharge processes and community reintegration, professionals need to maintain a person-centred approach mindful of participants’ complex emotional journeys. Research limitations/implications The design allows for tentative conclusions to be made about the service user’s journey and is not necessarily generalisable. Practical implications There is a pressing need to develop the evidence base for interventions offered in the community to people with intellectual disabilities and a history of offending. This report provides some evidence that EQUIP can be adapted to support this population. Originality/value This is the first coproduced publication exploring the experience of a service user with intellectual disability who completed an adapted EQUIP programme.

Purpose There is a pressing need to develop community forensic support for adults with intellectual disabilities and a high risk to others. Equipping youth to help one another (EQUIP) was developed for juvenile offenders in the USA and is used across Europe and North America. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate an adapted community model of EQUIP for men with intellectual disabilities and a history of sexual offending. Design/methodology/approach A case series design was used. The adapted EQUIP group ran for one session per week over ten months, with each participant accompanied by a support worker. Six men living in the community with intellectual disabilities and a history of sexual offending completed the programme. Findings Analysis of the results suggests that this adapted version of EQUIP produced similar results to the programme delivered in an inpatient setting. Participants’ reasoning and problem-solving abilities were improved post-intervention. Satisfaction levels from participant and their support workers were high. There was no evidence of recidivism during the ten months the group ran. Research limitations/implications The case series design utilised only allows the conclusion that the changes above occurred at the same time as the group. Further research is needed to ascertain whether it is likely that the intervention resulted in the changes. Practical implications There is a pressing need to develop the evidence base for interventions offered in the community to people with intellectual disabilities and a history of offending. This study provides some evidence that EQUIP can be adapted to suit this population. Social implications The availability of community interventions may, over time, decrease the need for detention in inpatient settings. This is in line with the transforming care agenda. Originality/value This is the first published research into use of EQUIP in the community with adult participants with intellectual disabilities.

Purpose Knowledge about learning disabilities has found to be limited in both health and social care staff. To improve the treatment of individuals with learning disabilities and mental health problems within the criminal justice system (CJS), Lord Bradley recommends that professionals receive mental health and learning disability awareness training. However, little is known about the impact of training on the knowledge of professionals in the CJS. This study aims to investigate the impact of a 3-h learning disability training session on the knowledge of probation officers. Design/methodology/approach Using a repeated measures design, the impact of a 3-h learning disability training session on the knowledge of 12 probation officers was analysed. Findings In support of this study’s hypothesis, a repeated measures t-test revealed a significant difference between participants pre-training and post-training learning disability knowledge questionnaire (LDKQ) scores. Participants scored significantly higher on the LDKQ post-training compared to pre-training. A linear regression revealed that years worked in probation did not significantly predict participant’s difference scores. Research limitations/implications Limitations of this study and directions for future studies are discussed. Originality/value This paper demonstrates that learning disability training can significantly improve the knowledge of probation officers.