Leen Vereenooghe

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Leen has a background in Special Needs Education and trained as a Clinical and Health Psychologist in Belgium. She completed her PhD studies at the University of East Anglia focusing on the development and evaluation of computer programmes to train CBT skills in people with learning disabilities. Leen is currently appointed as a junior professor of Psychological Interventions in Inclusive Contexts at Bielefeld University. She is particularly interested in how (assistive) technologies can promote inclusion.

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Digital inclusion: mental health technologies for people with learning disabilities #DigiMHweek

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Leen Vereenooghe summarises a recent review paper that presents the state of the evidence and future directions for digital mental health and people with intellectual disabilities.

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cCBT for people with learning disabilities: Pesky gNATs #MHNR2017

Pesky Gnats

Leen Vereenooghe presents the results of an RCT of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy for people with learning disabilities, featuring the computer game “Pesky gNATs: The Feel Good Island”.

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Dementia in Down syndrome: Are we ready for a clinical trial?

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Leen Vereenooghe summarises the TOP-COG study (Towards Onset Prevention of COGnitive decline in adults with Down syndrome). This pilot RCT highlights the need to educate people with learning disabilities and their carers about the importance of research participation.

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Should we recommend CBT for depression in people with learning disabilities?

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Leen Vereenooghe summarises a systematic review of the use of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) to treat depression in people with learning disabilities.

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Why does area deprivation affect people with learning disabilities and mental ill-health more than people without learning disabilities?

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Mental health problems are common in the population of people with learning disabilities. Previous research has also found a strong association between social deprivation and mental health problems.

Here, Leen Vereenooghe looks at a study, which sets out to look at what impact living in deprived areas might have on people with learning disabilities accessing community psychiatric services.

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Inpatient mindfulness group improves self-reported intrapersonal skills

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Mindfulness has been offered as a way to help reduce stress in family and carers but few studies have as yet looked directly at the effects of offering mindfulness-based interventions to people with learning disabilities themselves.

In her debut blog, Leen Vereenhooghe looks at an attempt to evaluate a mindfulness group in an inpatient assessment and treatment unit through the experiences of those who took part.

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