Fawn Harrad

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Fawn has a background in both healthcare research and front-line health and social care roles. After graduating with a BSc Psychology with Sociology degree, Fawn spent 3 years working at the University of Leicester. Based in the Department of Health Sciences, Fawn provided support to a number of research studies and evaluation projects that sought to improve local healthcare services. During this time Fawn also worked on a part-time basis as a Support Worker for adults with learning disabilities and as a Mental Health Recovery Worker. Fawn then spent 18 months working on an NHS inpatient assessment and treatment ward for people living with dementia, before returning to academic to complete a PhD. Fawn's PhD is focussed on occasions where care home residents are transferred to hospital. Alongside her PhD, Fawn is supporting other care home related research projects through her employment with the Clinical Research Network West Midlands. Here, Fawn is based in the ENRICH team (Enabling Research in Care Homes) that aims to increase the amount of research delivered in care homes.

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Differences in staff attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities in Japan and the United States

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Support staff can play a key role for some people with learning disabilities in connecting people with their communities – so how much do staff attitudes impact on this and are there differences in attitudes between countries?

Here Fawn Harrad looks at a study which compared attitudes of staff in Japan and the U.S.

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Enteral feeding tube guidelines not followed in residential settings

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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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End-of-life care for people with learning disabilities. Views of service-users and family carers

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People with learning disabilities are living longer than ever before, so more people are likely to need palliative care services and end-of-life care.

Here, Fawn Harrad looks at a study, which set out to listen specifically to the views of people with a learning disability and family carers in receipt of palliative care services.

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Interactive Behavioural Therapy: A review of the evidence and suggestions for future research

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Mental health problems have been found to be more common in people with learning disabilities than in the general population.

Fawn Harrad looks at a review of literature exploring the use of interactive behavioural therapy.

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Can staff mindset encourage a positive working alliance with parents with mild learning disabilities and encourage them to seek help sooner?

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Parents with learning disabilities face numerous difficulties as we have reported elsewhere, but how much does the mindset of the staff supporting them impact on the quality of working alliances and the speed at which parents seek help?
Here in her debut blog, Fawn Harrad looks at a study that involved both parents and their support staff to look at these issues.

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