Quality of life as a treatment outcome in services for people with learning disabilities and autism has received little attention in the literature. The researchers in this study combined quality of life measures with objective observations of challenging behaviours to evaluate outcomes for adults with learning disabilities and autism living in two different residential services. [read the full story…]
National policy in England has seen people with learning disabilities who were once residents of long stay hospitals move into community services. There have been many evaluations of these moves, locally and nationally. The authors of this study were interested in measurable factors such as quality of life and mortality. They looked at 521 adults with [read the full story…]
Challenging behaviour in people with learning disabilities often puts the safety of the person or others around them in jeopardy and can have an impact on the person’s quality of life. The authors of this study set out to explore the relationship between the way in which staff perceive challenging behaviour and staff burnout. They [read the full story…]
National policy in the UK surrounding the support of people with learning disabilities stresses the autonomy of people in receipt of support and the need for those who support them to maximise this. However, support workers also have a duty of care and can find these two policy objectives in conflict with each other. The [read the full story…]
The researcher in this study set out to explore the differences in perspectives that exist between parents with learning disabilities and the professionals employed to support them. Parents with disabilities may report having little say in the nature of the support they receive and may feel as though they are being coerced into accepting whatever [read the full story…]
The researchers in this study set out to look at international comparisons at the European level in the health conditions and health risk factors of people with learning disabilities. They looked at people living in fully staffed residential services compared with those living in unstaffed family homes or independent houses with no formal support. The [read the full story…]
The authors of this review set out to provide a comprehensive, critical review of the clinically relevant literature concerning depression in Down syndrome (DS) focusing on epidemiology, potential risk factors, diagnosis, course characteristics and treatment. The search was carried out in January 2011 and excluded review articles not adding new information and single case reports. [read the full story…]
This review of literature set out to explore the issues relating to families relinquishing the support of their family member with learning disabilities, often at a point of crisis. The review looked at situations where the family member is placed by disability services in respite care until suitable permanent accommodation can be organised or indeed, [read the full story…]
The early 1990s saw the publication of the original Mansell report into services for people with challenging behaviour. This report highlighted the issue of the use of out of area placements to meet the needs of people with learning disabilities and suggested that the continued reliance on such placements would stunt the growth of local [read the full story…]
Antipsychotics are frequently used in the treatment of people with learning disabilities, but little is published in the literature concerning their metabolic and endocrine side-effects. The researchers in this observational study set out to compare indices of obesity, glucose, lipids and prolactin between 138 people with learning disabilities who were treated with antipsychotic medications and [read the full story…]
