In recent years, a number of studies have begun to explore bereavement and grief in people with learning disabilities. Hollins and Esterhuyzen (1997) for example in the late 1990s reported the results of a matched control group study into the reaction of people with learning disabilities to bereavement, which found highly significant differences significant differences [read the full story…]
Introduction When a child becomes ill, the first clinician they meet is most likely to be their GP. This report is the result of a collaboration between the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Nursing, and the Department of Health to identify how to [read the full story…]
Talk to any manager who leads a team supporting people with learning disabilities and ask about what are the key features impacting on performance and the conversation will turn to team culture. However, clearly defining culture in way that is amenable to study in research has a number of difficulties and so whilst it recurs [read the full story…]
The period after giving birth to a child can be difficult for women and in the first twelve weeks after childbirth 13-19% of women will experience post-partum depression (O’Hara 1996, Gaynes 2005). Post-partum depression is bad news – not only does it increase the chance of the mother going onto develop a severe clinical depression [read the full story…]
Over recent years, media and research have highlighted the large number of offenders in prison who have an intellectual or developmental disability. The Prison Reform Trust (2007), estimated this to be 20-30% of all current offenders in prison (although todays numbers may be even higher!), and that this group of individuals are more likely to [read the full story…]
Depression is such a widely known issue now that it barely needs introduction. It’s something we Elves have covered with interest, looking at the effectiveness of various treatments, like psychotherapy, medication and exercise. For older adults though, there remains a somewhat hazy picture of what treatments work best. Most of the evidence base for the [read the full story…]
Measurement of quality of life for people who may not be able to verbally express their feelings remains a major challenge for providers of services to people with learning disabilities. Scores from self-reports of people with learning disabilities able to respond to questionnaires do not always match scores obtained from family members or support staff. [read the full story…]
NICE have published a new guide to help commissioners provide evidence-based care for people with dementia. Providing care for our ageing population seems not to have been out of the news in recent years and rightly so, especially as the headline stories are frequently not positive. A recent Care Quality Commission report found that people [read the full story…]
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), somewhere between 25 and 50% of people may have been physically abused at some point during their childhood, an experience defined as the use of physical force that harms the child’s health, survival, development, or dignity. Childhood maltreatment does not stop at physical abuse, however – children may [read the full story…]
Human pregnancy is considered to be full-term when it lasts between 37-42 weeks. Anything shorter is considered to be a pre-term birth and anything longer is considered post-term. Longer pregnancies can be a risk to both the mother and infant and so labour tends to be induced if a pregnancy goes on past 42 weeks. [read the full story…]
