You are here

  1. Home
  2. Learning disabilities

Learning disabilities

Can clinicians and carers make valid decisions about others' decision-making capacities unless tests of decision-making competence and capacity include emotionality and neurodiversity?

Purpose – The purpose in writing this paper is to highlight the lack of knowledge of many who are involved in capacity assessments, especially non‐professionals such as carers of the learning disabled, and the view that current guidance for capacity assessments does not take into account issues of emotionality.

Design/methodology/approach – The approach is to discuss current guidance and practice, and to offer academic criticism and explanation.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:21

FAIs: issues for families and carers

This article examines some of the areas covered by a review of the Fatal Accident Inquiry System in Scotland. The review followed the death of Roderick Donnett, a man with Down's syndrome who died whilst living in a care home. The article focuses specifically on key issue for families and carers as well as people with learning disabilities.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:20

Access to respite breaks for families who have a relative with intellectual disabilities: a national survey

Aims.  This paper reports the findings of a national study of the variations in the provision and correlates of respite breaks to families.

Background.  Internationally, respite breaks are a major support service to family carers, demand for which often exceeds supply for persons with an intellectual disability. Hence, the length of breaks available to families has to be rationed. Nurses are often involved in such decisions.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:20

A systematic review of hospital experiences of people with intellectual disability

Background: People with intellectual disability are at risk of poor hospital experiences and outcomes. The aims were to conduct a content and quality review of research into the acute hospital experiences of both people with intellectual disabilities and their carers, and to identify research gaps.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:20

The formal support experiences of family carers of people with an intellectual disability who also display challenging behaviour and/or mental health issues : What do carers say?

This article reports the findings of a literature review of research that has explored the support experiences of family carers of a person with an intellectual disability who displays challenging behaviour and/or has a mental health problem. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the reported experiences of family carers from recent research studies, about their own support. Having discussed the search strategy, definitions of challenging behaviour and mental health/illness are presented.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:20

What's in a name? The implications of diagnosis for people with learning difficulties and their family carers

Diagnosis plays a significant role in the shaping of individual identities and the quality of life for people with learning difficulties and their family carers. Diagnostic labels are constitutive of peoples' lives, in that they bring forth pathology, create problemsaturated stories and construct careers as patients and cases. Disabled identities of people with learning difficulties remain largely ‘embodied’ and within the definitional control of professionals.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:20

Copying letters to service users with learning disabilities: opinions of service users, carers and professionals working within learning disability services

The NHS Plan, Department of Health (2000) made a commitment that patients should be able to receive copies of clinicians’ letters about them as a right in order to improve communication and enable patients to participate in their care. In South Gloucestershire, the opinions of local service users with learning disabilities, their carers, and professionals working within learning disability services about this issue were sought using questionnaires and focus groups in order to identify and then develop good practice.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:19

Choice of where and how you live: how families can create new solutions to a familiar problem

The White Paper Valuing People said the aim for people with learning disability should be choice of where and how you live. This is rarely the experience to date. A publication has been written for family carers, social workers and others who want to find out more about the various housing and support options for people with learning disabilities. It explains the choices, how to go about getting housing and what support people can find. Six individuals and their families allowed us to describe their different ways of creating housing and support arrangements.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:19

A comparison of carers needs for service users cared for both in and out of area

Purpose – This paper describes an ongoing process of engagement with carers of people with intellectual disabilities currently being monitored by an out of area service for both carers of people placed both in area and out of area within a local Mental Health Learning Disabilities team in South London.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:19

The impact of service user cognitive level on carer attributions for aggressive behaviour

Background  This study was designed to test the hypothesis that carer attributions for aggressive behaviour vary according to a service user's severity of intellectual disability.

Thu, 07/20/2017 - 15:19

Page 4 of 13