Last week we posted about a study looking at end of life are for people with learning disabilities through the experiences of the staff supporting them. This week, we would like to draw your attention to a new film that has been produced by CHANGE for Dying Matters and the National End of Life Care [read the full story…]
In the late 1990s, a group of people concerned about the quality of palliative care being offered to people with learning disabilities started a voluntary organiation now known as the PCPLD Network. The work of the network has raised awareness of the issue and also supported the research agenda into this topic. This current qualitative [read the full story…]
Since the formation in 1998 of the palliative care for people with learning disabilities network, there has been some work bringing together service providers and carers to enable better co-ordination of care for the benefit of people with learning disabilities who have palliative care needs. However, there is still a lack of research into the [read the full story…]
End-of-life care services are typically funded and delivered by a mix of organisations from the NHS, local authorities and the voluntary sector as well as by independent agencies and through individual means (informal or family carers). Given the growing complexity of and demands on end-of-life care services, commissioning in this area is likely to be [read the full story…]
It can be hard to detect and treat depression when it occurs in palliative care because it often presents amongst a multitude of other symptoms. There are obviously many systematic reviews that assess the use of antidepressants as a treatment for various life threatening illnesses, but no previous study has synthesized the evidence in palliative [read the full story…]
In common with other European countries, Ireland’s national database of people with learning disabilities has shown increasing ageing trends in prevalence rates and the biggest proportional increase in the next 5-10 years is expected to be will be among persons aged 50 years and over with the associated risks of developing diseases such as dementia. [read the full story…]
Whilst there is a developing literature aimed at a better understanding of end of life care for people with learning disabilities, there is little published that relates directly to the perspectives of paid carers. The researchers in this study used a series of focus groups to analyse responses from 64 people who worked in learning [read the full story…]
A three phase project to develop, implement, and evaluate a palliative care training programme responsive to learning needs of staff providing services and supports for individuals with learning disabilities living in long-term care settings was evaluated. Participants in the programme were asked to rate their levels of preparation and confidence, before and after receiving the [read the full story…]
