People with learning disabilities are more likely to have tooth decay, loose teeth, have gum disease, show higher levels of untreated disease and also have a larger number of extractions than those without disabilities, although evidence does exist to suggest that well-performed preventive procedures can prevent progression of dental disease and reduce tooth loss. The [read the full story…]
Last week we posted about some research by a self advocacy group which was looking at some of the reasons why annual health checks only happened for one in four people with learning disabilities in their area. The researchers in this US study looked at the needs of primary care doctors using semi structured interviews [read the full story…]
Attitudes held by professionals towards the empowerment of people with learning disabilities can impact enormously on the nature of the support they receive. There is a big literature on the impact of attitudes held by medical professional s on access to and quality of healthcare for example. This issue was key to the pace of [read the full story…]
Positive behavioural support (PBS) recognises the importance of understanding the basis of why someone is exhibiting a behaviour that is challenging, and that there is a need to consider both proactive and reactive strategies in developing interventions. There has been a good deal reported in the literature about the training needs of paid carers in this [read the full story…]
We have posted previously about the impact of carer attributions regarding the behaviour of people with learning disabilities and the impact these can have on carer responses. The authors of this systematic review were interested in the effects of carer training in challenging and complex behaviour. The researchers searched the literature and included papers that [read the full story…]
Estimates of the numbers of people with learning disabilities who also have a co-morbid psychiatric disorder vary considerably between studies, from 14 to 39%. This review set out to look at the knowledge, attitudes and training of professionals supporting people with both learning disability and psychoatric disorder, termed in this study, dual diagnosis. The authors [read the full story…]
The researchers in this study were interested in the impact of training in supporting children with learning disabilities described as having challenging g behaviour. This training may be delivered to families and to teachers, but rarely at the same time. The authors were interested in the impact on outcomes if training were delivered to both [read the full story…]
Active Support involves concerns training staff in working practices and organisational procedures to improve levels of resident participation and increase levels of engagement in activities. It is being introduced in many support services for people with learning disabilities to help bring about such improvements. This Australian study set out to look at what happened when [read the full story…]
In 2009, researchers in Surrey completed an audit of pain recognition and management within the learning disability services there. One of the key recommendations from that audit was that staff in learning disability services should receive training in pain recognition and management. As a result, nearly 200 services in the locality (from an invitation list [read the full story…]
Active Support concerns training staff in working practices and organisational procedures in homes to help provide direct support for resident participation and increase levels of engagement in activities. The researchers in this study looked at the effect of staffing levels, e.g. either one or two staff on the amount of assistance provided to people with [read the full story…]
