Caroline Struthers reports on the findings of a follow-up paper of the DOMINO-AD trial, which compares Donepezil and Memantine for Moderate to Severe Alzheimer’s Disease, and looks at the effects these two drugs have on nursing home placement.
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Jeanne Carlin explores a study on decision making in male carers of people with dementia and reflects on her own experiences in interpreting the findings.
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Jeanne Carlin discusses a review about influences on adult children carers’ well-being and thinks about what the evidence means for Care Act implementation.
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Caroline Struthers is frustrated by the lack of high quality research identified by this recent review, which looks at interventions to improve the experience and well-being of those caring for people with severe mental illness.
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For some people with learning disabilities, difficulties in eating and swallowing mean that enteral tubes are used to consume food and sometimes to take medication.
Here, Fawn Harrad looks at a Belgian study in which researchers observed whether staff in residential settings were following guidelines in the use of enteral feeding tubes to administer medications.
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Mary Larkin finds out if a US carer support programme is effective for black and minority ethnic carers of people living with Alzhemier’s disease.
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Being engaged in our community at a level, with which we feel comfortable, could be a measure of the quality of our lives. But how do workers who support people with learning disabilities help them in ways, which can achieve this? What helps and what gets in the way?
Here, in her debut blog, Paula Hopes looks at a naturalistic observation study that looked at this issue in more detail.
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People with learning disabiilties can have complex health needs which require monitoring and management. This can be challenging for their supporters, who may lack the knowledge necessary.
Here, in her debut blog, Emma Langley looks at a study which explored some of the challenges faced by paid and family carers in monitoring health in the context of the complexities of inter agency working between the health and social sectors.
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Although the research base is small, it does strongly suggest that the attitudes of support workers can be key influencers of outcomes for people with learning disabilities and this would seem to be an entirely reasonable assumption. Here, Louise Phillips looks at a study which set out to not only explore the attitudes of a number of support workers in one service, but also to consider whether existing attitude measurement scales capture the range of attitudes expressed.
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Mindfulness is increasingly recognised as an effective way to reduce stress and improve well-being
Here Kate van Dooren looks at a randomised controlled trial of a mindfulness based stress reduction programme with mothers of children with autism and other developmental delays to look at its impact on levels of distress over time.
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