The psychological impact of abuse has been conceptualised as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but there has been little work on understanding whether this conceptualisation is appropriate and useful for adults with severe learning disabilities who may have limited communication skills. The researchers in this study set out to explore whether this established conceptual framework could [read the full story…]
The combination of family support and responsive services has been identified as critical to the development of a positive parenting context parents with learning disabilities. But the current evidence suggests that such parents are still likely to have their children permanently removed from their care. A recent Australian study suggested that for some learning disabled [read the full story…]
A new report from the Kings Fund, Delivering better services for people with long-term conditions: building the house of care, shares learning from the “house of care” model which was developed through the Year of Care programme and discussed in a recent workshop and series of interviews. The “house of care” metaphor is used to [read the full story…]
Information technology is a now a major part of the modern world and access to the internet is becoming more and more important to being a part of modern society. Access to the internet brings many benefits in terms of access to a broader community of friends, opportunities for learning and increasingly a number of [read the full story…]
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 came into force in England and Wales in 2007 to provide a legal framework for decision-making on behalf of people who cannot make decisions themselves. We have posted previously about the lack of practical knowledge of the working of the Act amongst learning disability community teams and pointed to articles [read the full story…]
Do not use psychological debriefing when a child has been exposed to a traumatic event such as assault or a major car crash. And if you treat a child who has developed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to trauma, do not use pharmacotherapy either (that is, not as a first line treatment). Rather, apply the [read the full story…]
Time and time again, research has shown that involving patients and carers in the treatment decision-making process is beneficial to all involved as it improves compliance, patient satisfaction and experience, and ultimately reduces cost for the service as a whole. So, it is crucial that commissioners take this into account when designing and procuring services. [read the full story…]
Following the publication of the Winterborne View ‘concordat’ December 2012, it was agreed that the College of Social Work, in collaboration with other key groups and organisations, would produce guidance for social workers on good practice in working with people with learning disabilities who also have mental health conditions. The College of Social Work is [read the full story…]
There is increasing interest in the levels of tooth wear being seen with a recent systematic review suggesting that between 10-30% of children have signs of established wear ( Dental Elf Sept 2011) . The aim of this study was to determine prevalence of tooth wear on the oral and facial surfaces in 18– 35 year [read the full story…]
As you know, the Elf service exists to ensure that the best current knowledge is made available to support staff. It is possible to see from our tag cloud that we cover a good deal of material produced that relates to supporting people described as having challenging behaviour. We know that staff skills, competence and [read the full story…]
