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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In this blog, Jill Manthorpe finds out how a ‘cultural gerontology’ study into dementia and dress can help with good practice in residential and nursing homes.
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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.
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Clarissa Giebel interrogates a systematic review on quality of life measures for people living in care homes and discovers what’s best for people with dementia as well as those without.
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In her exploration of a Canadian study into extra care housing for older disabled people, Jo Moriatry gives a critical view of the research and offers some insights into what it means for the UK policy and practice context.
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BILD’s communication factsheet suggests that estimates of the proportion of people with learning disabilities who have difficulties with communication vary between 50% and 90%. For many people with learning disabilities, this communication will be non-verbal, or working at a pre-lingual level, which mean the use of many means including gesture, facial expression, sign language, picture [read the full story…]
The authors of this study were interested in looking at support to adults with autism spectrum disorder in staffed housing services. Their focus was on looking at whether diagnostic congregation, or grouping people with similar diagnoses, was prevalent in services and if so, whether it had any impact on outcomes. They worked with 157 adults [read the full story…]
Researchers in this Australian study were concerned to consider the issue of planning for future care and support of people with learning disabilities after the death of parental caregivers. They were considered the need to adapt support systems to ensure the best possible quality of life for people with intellectual disability as they grow older. [read the full story…]
