Women who have survived physical or sexual abuse may continue to experience post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health complaints well into later life, according to a new study published in the Journal of Women’s Health. Researchers from Connecticut conducted this systematic review which involved finding what they call ’empirical studies’ from the last [read the full story…]
In this US study, the authors looked at the prevalence of obesity in people with learning disability and those in the general U.S. adult population without learning disability. They found that adults with learning disability did not differ from the general population in prevalence of obesity. However, when they combined obesity and overweight they found [read the full story…]
Suicide is rarely far from the headlines these days, but the last week has seen a number of high profile stories in the mainstream media. First there was the tragic death of the much loved footballer Gary Speed, which has been followed by a huge amount of press coverage. Then on Saturday The Sun newspaper [read the full story…]
The supporters of children with fragile X syndrome often report behaviour that challenges as a major concern. The authors of this small-scale, multiple baseline design study set out to explore whether behaviourally-based interventions might result in reductions in problem behaviour and improvements in the quality of life for 3 children with fragile X syndrome and [read the full story…]
Unless policy-makers take active steps to ensure that the rhetoric of clinically-led commissioning reflects a multi-professional approach that put nurses at the heart of commissioning and delivery, the potential to improve health care for patients will not be realised, says Nurses in Commissioning Network. According to Involving Nurses in Commissioning: How to Get it Right [read the full story…]
Many studies have looked at the difficulties associated with medication management in people with learning disabilities. This study set out to looked at an approach to medication management and treatment in an outpatient psychiatry clinic for 198 community-residing children and adults with learning disability who were referred to the clinic and subsequently discharged over an [read the full story…]
This fifth annual report on NHS adult specialist mental health services in England and the people who use them covers five years with the most recent information for 2010/11. It covers hospital care and services delivered in the community. This year, for the first time, data from a small number of NHS funded independent sector [read the full story…]
Inclusion sits at the heart of policy relating to the support of people with learning disabilities. This Norwegian study set out to look at some practical implications of this in relation to providing support to older people with learning disabilities, in particular the views and attitudes of people using ‘senior centres’ in Norway to the [read the full story…]
The NHS Confederation Mental Health Network have a published a review that discusses the readiness of mental health commissioners and providers to start working under the new Payment By Results system from April 2012. The review involved speaking to more than 100 people from mental health trusts, commissioners, the independent sector, local authorities and national [read the full story…]
Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are often prescribed antidepressant drugs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors – SRI), but many only partially respond to this treatment. This randomised controlled trial conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, examined the effects of augmenting the antidepressant medication with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). The trial was quite [read the full story…]
