Transforming Care, the government’s response to WInterbourne view, set some clear targets for the development of community services and the reduction on specialist inpatient bed numbers.
Here Alix Dixon looks at a paper, which used some illustrative case examples to explore some of the policy and practice issues around these targets.
[read the full story...]
There continues to be debate about the appropriate use of in-patient services for people with learning disabilities and we need to learn as much as possible about routes in, treatment options within and pathways out.
In her debut blog, Anne Marie Scott looks at a paper, which reports on outcomes in relation to people who were inpatients in a forensic unit, In particular the researchers asked if being on the autism spectrum impacted on these outcomes.
[read the full story...]
How do staff and family carers recognise when somebody they support is in pain and what emotional impact does this have on them?
Here, Nick Burton looks at a small scale qualitative study, which set out to explore this issue for some paid carers and family carers.
[read the full story...]
People with learning disabilities are living longer than ever before, so more people are likely to need palliative care services and end-of-life care.
Here, Fawn Harrad looks at a study, which set out to listen specifically to the views of people with a learning disability and family carers in receipt of palliative care services.
[read the full story...]
How to balance the need to discharge a duty of care with the need to promote and support autonomy is a key question for those involved in supporting people with learning disabilities.
Here, Victoria Smillie looks at a qualitative study that used in depth interviewing of a small sample of supported people and paid supporters to identify and further explore these challenges.
[read the full story...]
Training for staff in understanding and responding to challenging behaviour – must be a good thing… But how much do we know about the impact of this training on subsequent staff performance and levels of challenging behaviour?
Here, Louise Phillips looks at a review of the literature that set out to explore these questions in more detail.
[read the full story...]
Parents with learning disabilities face significantly increased risks of being involved in care proceedings. In this blog, Sian Anderson looks at some research, which sought the views of a small group of solicitors involved in care proceedings, to find out what they thought of the way in which the system and the professionals involved in it responded to parents with learning disabilities in care proceedings.
[read the full story...]
Reported rates of seriously challenging behaviour vary considerably in the literature, but the impact can be significant on the person, their family and their supporters.
Here we look at what a Cochrane review of the evidence from randomised controlled trials has to say about the effectiveness of behavioural and cognitive-behavioural interventions for what is defined as outwardly aggressive challenging behaviour.
[read the full story...]
People with learning disabilities who have complex and challenging needs may find themselves placed in specialist services, sometimes distant from family and local support networks, often at high cost to the commissioners.
Here Ruth Northway looks at the findings of a survey of commissioning teams in south east England reporting on the nature and costs of such placements.
[read the full story...]
Affect attunement has been described in the literature as reflecting back emotions and feelings projected by a person in order to create a connection.
Here Paul Barnard looks at a paper exploring ways in which support workers might be using this approach in their work with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.
[read the full story...]
