John Northfield

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After qualifying as a social worker, John worked in community learning disability teams before getting involved in a number of long-stay hospital closure programmes, working to develop individual plans for people moving into their own homes. He worked for BILD, helping to develop the Quality Network and was editorial lead for the NHS electronic library learning disabilities specialist collection. This led him to found the Learning Disabilities Elf site with Andre Tomlin as a way of making the evidence accessible to practitioners in health and social care. Most recently he has worked as part of Mencap's national quality team and also been involved in a number of national website developments, including the General Medical Council's learning disabilities site.

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35% of people with learning disabilities in Australian city prescribed psychotropic medications

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medicine in blisterpack

It is estimated that in UK, up to 200,000 people with learning disabilities are given anti-psychotic drugs, which can have powerful side effects, like risk of weight gain, impotence and strain to the cardiovascular system, and with little evidence of their efficacy in treating challenging behaviour. There are equal concerns about the use of anti-convulsant [read the full story…]

Little attention paid to menopausal transition experiences or wellbeing of women with learning disabilities

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Middle-aged woman

In the mid 1990s, a questionnaire study carried out by Carr and Hollins in Wandsworth suggested that menopause may occur earlier in women with learning disabilities and that for women with Down syndrome, it may occur earlier still. These findings were strengthened by work a couple of years later in a U.S. study by Schupf [read the full story…]

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Interventions for smoking cessation and alcohol abuse in people with learning disabilities lack theoretical framework and clear outcome measures

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Cigarettes_20

We have posted previously about increasing concerns about misuse of tobacco and alcohol amongst people with mild to moderate learning disabilities, with one review in the United States suggesting that people with learning disabilities were less likely to receive or remain in treatment. The authors of this systematic review were interested in looking at interventions [read the full story…]

Lower rates of cervical and breast screening found in Canadian population study

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breast and cervical screening

Lower rates of cervical and breast cancer screening have been reported in women with learning disabilities when compared to the general population. The researchers in this Canadian Study set out to look at whether there were any differences in the rates of cervical and breast screening between women with learning disabilities and those without. As [read the full story…]

Needle phobia overcome in one case study by use of changing criterion and differential reinforcement

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Injection

Fear and anxiety about medical procedures can be a barrier to accessing healthcare for people with learning disabilities. In particular, fear of needles can mean that blood tests may not be able to be taken and this can prove a significant clinical challenge. The researchers in this case study used a changing criterion design, they [read the full story…]

Mindfulness can impact on quality of life for people with learning disabilities, but more research needed

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Friends1

Mindfulness is an approach to life based on an ancient Buddhist practice which means paying attention to the present moment in a non-judgemental manner, which aims to increase awareness, clarity and acceptance. As a number of studies have looked at mindfulness-based interventions the authors of this narrative review set out to look at the clinical [read the full story…]

Differences found between people with learning disabilities who worked and those who perceived themselves to be at work

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Jobs

The economic, social and psychological benefits of being work have been well documented in the literature, but in 2010/11 in England, only 6.6% of adults with learning disabilities were reported to be in paid employment and the majority of these people were working part-time. A number of people however, will say they are working, when [read the full story…]

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Range of in-patient beds needed People with learning disability and mental health, behavioural or forensic problems

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RCP forensic report

In the wake of the dreadful events at Winterbourne view and the subsequent inquiries and reports, there is now a real push to consider the place of inpatient services for people with learning disabilities who present with complex needs and behavioural challenges. We have posted recently about alternatives to inpatient services, for example the Association [read the full story…]

Group-based CBT effective in improving anger control by people with learning disabilities

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shutterstock_6153463 group therapy circle of empty chairs

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an approach used to help people manage problems by changing the way they think and behave. It is a talking therapy designed to help examine they way in which their actions can affect they way they think and feel. It looks for practical ways to improve states of mind on [read the full story…]

Impulsivity and stereotypy were predictors of self-injurious behaviour in people with learning disabilities and autism diagnoses

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Upset6

Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) usually directly results in physical harm to an individual. Examples include hand biting, head slapping, picking at skin, gouging or striking the body or eating inedible material. Some researchers have begun to include stereotypy or repetitive movements in a definition of self-injurious behaviour, even if they do not result on tissue damage.. [read the full story…]