The Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards provide a legal framework for hospitals and care homes to obtain a power to lawfully deprive people who are using their services of their liberty. This applies when they lack capacity to consent to their care or treatment. The safeguards aim to protect some of the most [read the full story…]
Public sector services have a legal duty to provide ‘reasonable adjustments’ for people with learning disabilities. This might mean removing physical barriers to access which is clearly important, but also includes the removal of barriers that exist as the result of the way the service is organised or delivered, ensuring that policies, procedures and [read the full story…]
New generation anti-psychotic medications are being used to treat aggressive behaviours in people with learning disabilities, whether or not individuals have a formal diagnosis of a mental health problem. This study set out to evaluate the effectiveness of two such new generation anti-psychotic medications, olanzapine and risperidone. The study looked at how effective these [read the full story…]
Epilepsy is a major issue for people with learning disabilities. The National epilepsy society suggest that around 30% of people with mild to moderate learning disability also have epilepsy and the more severe the learning disability, the more likelihood there is that the person will have epilepsy. However, diagnosing epilepsy in a person with learning [read the full story…]
This report from Improving Health and Lives: Learning Disabilities Observatory (IHaL) brings together information on the characteristics of people with learning disabilities, the services and supports they use and their carers. The aim of this report is to provide a concise summary of this information from a variety of Government departments and to provide links [read the full story…]
Depression can be difficult to spot in people with learning disabilities. The Royal College of Psychiatrists in its information leaflet points out that for many people with learning disabilities expressing their feelings in words may not come easily, so their actions may speak for them. They suggest that sudden changes in behaviour or mood, or [read the full story…]
People with learning disabilities and complex mental health problems are often most at risk of being placed in services a long way from their homes, their families and any natural support systems they may have built up. This study interviewed 17 service users directly affected in this way: they had all been placed away from [read the full story…]
The onset of the menopause in women with learning disabilities occurs earlier than in the general population, and earlier still in women with Down’s syndrome (DS). This study set out to listen to a number of women with learning disabilities to find out what they knew about the menopause and about their sexual health more [read the full story…]
Learning from the past – setting out the future (PDF): Developing learning disability nursing in the United Kingdom (An RCN position statement on the role of the learning disability nurse). As numbers of children and adults with learning disabilities increase and more people with learning disabilities live into adulthood with a range of complex needs, the [read the full story…]
Being involved in the day to day decisions of our lives is a key part of self-determination. People with learning disabilities will often need significant support to enable this to happen. This study looked at decision making for 24 people with learning disabilities (mean Full-Scale IQ = 59.8) who attended a day service. Tasks were [read the full story…]
