The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers harmful drinking as the third largest contributor to the Global Burden of Disease, an index of disability, poor health and mortality. The majority of people who suffer from alcohol use disorders do not receive any treatment, due in part to lack of access. One way of increasing the availability [read the full story…]
It can be incredibly difficult to talk about mental health conditions like depression, both for the person going through the illness and the friends and family who are trying to offer support. We know that overcoming this fear and talking through mental health problems can be a real life-saver and this message runs through the [read the full story…]
Anyone who’s spent any time at all on the Mental Elf website, or any of the other National Elf Service sites, knows that we elves love succinct and focused summaries that are easy to read and quick to digest. It’s always a delight to see other groups publishing similar resources, so I’ve decided today to [read the full story…]
The benefits of exercise for a healthy lifestyle are now well understood. However, there are issues relating to the physiology of people with Down syndrome which might suggest limitations to the extent to which they can engage in cardiovascular or resistance exercises. we also know that many people with Down syndrome are overweight or obese. [read the full story…]
The use of physical interventions for people with learning disabilities must be within a locally agreed policy framework and as a last resort. Commissioners of services need to be assured that their use is appropriate and that good quality monitoring is taking place. The researchers in this study looked at the work of good practice [read the full story…]
A state of high anxiety can have an impact on daily living. For people with learning disabilities, anxiety can be common and persistent anxiety can significantly affect people’s quality of life. There is a literature on effects of exercise on reducing anxiety, but the researchers in this study point out that there has been little [read the full story…]
We have posted previously about the use of physical interventions in services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behavioiur, with BILD estimating their use in around half of all people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour. (BILD link). The researchers in this organisational case study were interested in whether the adoption of organisation-wide positive [read the full story…]
Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic medication used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia, most usually used as a treatment of last resort where people have not responded to other anti-psychotic treatments. It has a number of severe side effects including and can also cause the excessive production of saliva and weight gain.. The researchers in [read the full story…]
Recently in the Netherlands, Dutch TV showed footage of a teenager known as ‘Brandon’ who was resident in a long stay institution. Because of his challenging behaviour, he was managed in this institution by the use of a harness, which was attached via a leather strap to a metal bracket on the wall. Dutch psychiatrists have [read the full story…]
Earlier this week we have looked at the reports into the Winterbourne View scandal, which identified some appalling practice by staff at the home. Today, we are looking at some research that focuses on the potential for injury of staff who are involved in physical interventions. Physical interventions are defined as responses to challenging behaviour [read the full story…]
