Rates of emergency admissions to hospital higher for people with learning disabilities

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Avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions for ‘ambulatory care sensitive conditions’ (ACSCs), reduces costs and should provide good outcomes for patients. ACSCs are defined as those where ‘effective management’ at the primary care level should avoid admission to hospital. Many of the conditions identified as ACSCs, for example convulsions and epilepsy are more common among people with [read the full story…]

Adults with Down syndrome are hospitalised more than the general population and for a longer duration

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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…]

Review highlights experiences of mental health services by people with learning disabilities

Self-reported stigma was positively associated with psychological distress

The organisation of mental health services for people with learning disabilities, particularly issues relating to inpatient care remains an important area for research. This review of the literature set out to identify recent findings. The review found that people with learning disabilities appeared to be admitted with more severe problems and also received more interventions [read the full story…]

Patients with learning disabilities visiting psychiatric ED may be sent home with no recorded follow up plans

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Researchers in this Canadian study looked at the factors associated with the use of psychiatric emergency services by people with learning disabilities who were living with their family. They conducted an audit of hospital chart audits for a sample of 20 such individuals with learning disabilities who had visited the emergency department (ED) at the [read the full story…]