Training

The participation of service users with intellectual disability and carers is essential in medical and psychiatric training at all levels.

As part of an evaluation of service users’ and carers’ experience of involvement in mental health education, training and research, an extended literature review was undertaken. The purpose of this was to review policy underpinning service user and carer involvement in those areas, identify the extent and range of involvement, the processes involved, and the extent to which the effectiveness and impact of involvement had been evaluated. The review found that there was a range of different ways in which people were involved.

Family care-givers play a vital role in the support of people with dementia. In addition to opportunity costs, care-giving has been linked to a wide range of negative outcomes, including psychological disturbance, physical health problems, relationship changes and social activity restrictions (Donaldson et al, 1997). Carers identify access to information and training as an essential requirement in their struggle to continue in the care-giving role (Blackwell et al, 1992). To what extent are these training needs currently met?

The article focuses on a strategy meant for providing support for carers across Northern Ireland. The strategy quotes census figures indicating that there are more than 185,000 unpaid carers in Northern Ireland, equating to about 11 percent of the population. Carers need some help and support to enable them to continue in their caring role. The strategy include the identification of those acting in a caring role, information for carers, support services, the special needs of young carers and training and employment.

Penny Hibberd introduces an innovative idea for involving carers in higher education, and carers Caryn and Ted Bird explain how they have benefited from the approach 

Colin Barnes describes how he sets about offering communication advice to family carers of people with dementia, and the materials he has developed to help carers understand the reasons for common difficulties and strategies for more successful communication

It is possible that effective information-sharing strategies to improve the quality of care can be developed. Service users, carers and professionals should all be involved in generating such strategies. The ideal information-sharing strategy can be tailored to individuals' needs and requires professionals to make carefully weighted judgements. Professionals need training to help them to understand the roles of carers and to work with carers effectively. Training should be accredited in order to encourage attendance.

To identify and evaluate the reliability and quality of educational materials provided to individuals with schizophrenia and their carers. Materials used by mental health professionals working in community and in-patient settings were collated. Two independent raters used the ‘Discern’ questionnaire to assess the publications.

Contains a general introduction to the topic and drawing on a range of current initiatives, pointers towards good practice in relation to each of the components of effective involvement. A range of evaluation tools are offered which may be useful in charting progress and identifying the next steps to be taken.

Overall life expectancy for women with intellectual disabilities (ID) is now significantly extended, and many will live long enough to experience menopause. Little is known about how carers support women with ID through this important stage in their lives. This study investigated carer knowledge of how menopause affects women with ID under their care and how they may help them to cope with it.