We have posted previously about positive behaviour support (PBS) which includes a range of approaches based upon person centred values which use quality of life improvements for the person as an intervention and an outcome measure. This Irish study set out to look at the components of positive behavioural support interventions to try to identify [read the full story…]
Getting feedback about interventions from people with learning disabilities involves a number of challenges, including of course communication difficulties The researchers in this study were interested in how occupational therapists (OT’s) gathered feedback from people who used their services. They looked at this by asking 70 OT’s to complete a questionnaire and a subset of [read the full story…]
How best to support people with severe learning disabilities and challenging behaviour is a question that has been thrown into sharp relief by the Winterbourne View scandal and subsequent pronouncements by Government about improving care for vulnerable adults. Clearly, managing risk and reducing harm are key components of the answer, but whilst necessary, will not [read the full story…]
In the wake of the outcome of last week’s court proceedings involving support staff who worked at Winterbourne View hospital, there have been continuing calls to ensure that people with learning disabilities and complex needs are not placed far from home in isolated services, but receive local, skilled support. The Mansell report drew attention to [read the full story…]
Earlier this year, we posted about the report of the Modernising Learning Disability Nursing Review Group, which explored ways in which access to expert learning disabilities nurses could be assured across the UK. There were a number of recommendations for action and the a UK-wide Steering Group was to be set up to support a [read the full story…]
There is an increasing focus on how organisations that support people with learning disabilities can move to a position where they can deliver personalised services. In Control has provided a range of reports on the evaluation of the use of personal budgets and a recent publication by Helen Sanderson Associates, Creating Person Centred Organisations has [read the full story…]
The Mencap Getting it Right campaign was launched some time ago in recognition that people with a learning disability were getting a raw deal from the NHS, with unequal access to treatments and reports of poor care. A range of reasons may lie behind this poor response, including inadequate training, lack of support, lack of knowledge [read the full story…]
The healthcare needs of people with learning disabilities have been well charted in the literature, although the response of healthcare services to these needs has often been poor. Recent reports including Mencap’s Death by Indifference, which told the stories of six people with learning disabilities who died in the care of the NHS, the Disability [read the full story…]
Dental caries, or tooth decay is estimated to develop at the same rate in people with learning disabilities as in the general population.. The prevalence of untreated dental caries, however, is much higher among people with learning disabilities, particularly among those living in non-institutional settings. The researchers in this Brazilian study set out to look [read the full story…]
Staff working with people with complex needs relating to challenging behaviours or mental health needs will be dealing with a range of emotions on a daily basis. The authors of this qualitative study were interested to explore how staff dealt with these and what implications this might have for the organisation employing them. They worked [read the full story…]
