We have posted previously about issues relating to cancer screening in people with learning disabilities and the impact this has on early identification of signs and symptoms and consequent timely treatment. The researchers from the improving health and lives learning disabilities public health observatory (LDPHO) were interested to know whether reasonable adjustments were being made [read the full story…]
The researchers in this US study were looking to compare a range of indicators of health status and service use between adults with learning disabilities, with and without Down syndrome. They compared 1,199 people using services who had Down syndrome (DS) with a comparative sample of 11,182 people with learning disabilities who did not have [read the full story…]
Earlier this week we posted about some guidance from the Royal College of GPs concerning eye care for people with learning disabilities. This guidance drew attention to the need for GPs to include a check on vision in annual health checks. There is good evidence that health checks work , but also increasingly concerns that [read the full story…]
Poor health in people with learning disabilities is associated with a number of risk factors, one of which is the lower likelihood of getting timely access to screening services. Previous studies have shown that women with learning disabilities are less likely than those without disabilities to have access to cervical and breast cancer screening services [read the full story…]
We have posted many times about the issue of overweight and obesity in people with learning disabilities. This study in France set out look at health-related fitness in adolescents with learning disabilities and to analyse various performances in physical fitness tests according to degrees of obesity in that poopulation. The researchers worked with 87 French [read the full story…]
The authors of this study were interested in looking at the use of integrated sports as one strategy for promoting health and social participation of adolescents with learning disabilities. They set out to improve understanding of the factors associated with such integration by carrying out individual interviews with 40 adolescents with learning disabilities and their [read the full story…]
Life expectancy of people with Down syndrome has been increasing over the last ten years, with consequent increases in the incidence of morbidity as they age. The authors of this study carried out by Israeli researchers point out that there is not much literature exploring this morbidity or looking at hospitalisation of adults with Down [read the full story…]
Part of a broader programme of work looking at the contribution of learning disabilities nursing, the UK Modernising Learning Disabilities Nursing Review was commissioned and led by the Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland on behalf of the chief nursing officers across the UK to consider the current and future contribution of learning disabilities nursing to [read the full story…]
Access to good healthcare is a fundamental right and there is good evidence that this is not always the case for people with learning disabilities. We have posted many times about the problems people face, most recently drawing attention to the Mencap report on the lack of progress in many parts of the NHS in [read the full story…]
We have posted previously about the management of diabetes in people with learning disabilities, as the prevalence of diabetes is relatively high in this group. It is only relatively recently however, that researchers have begun to explore how people experience having diabetes and how they manage the condition. This small qualitative study involved 17 people [read the full story…]
