A keystone of policy relating to the support of people with learning disabilities in England is the involvement of service users in planning and delivering their support. This is also reflected in policy relating to risk assessment and management processes. However, the evidence from the literature at present suggests that this involvement is not yet [read the full story…]
Mutans streptococci (mutans) have an important role in dental caries. Individuals having high levels of these organisms being considered to be a higher risk of disease. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a prenatal nutrition intervention to reduce sugar intake and mutans in low-income women. Pregnant women ≥18 years of [read the full story…]
Liaison psychiatry teams in general hospitals can cut costs to the NHS by reducing how many people need beds and how long they stay, according to a report published yesterday by Centre for Mental Health with the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and funded by [read the full story…]
The authors of this study set out to investigate sleep patterns in children with Down syndrome by asking parents to complete a questionnaire on sleep habits. Typical sleep problems included sleep maintenance problems, snoring, and disordered breathing. The authors administered a 33 item questionnaire on children’s sleep habits to the parents of 35 children with [read the full story…]
We have posted elsewhere on the site about the issue of support for parents with learning disabilities and the differences in perspective that exist between parents with disabilities and the professionals who support them. The authors of this study looked at the need for accurate planning data to support the development of support services. The [read the full story…]
Many studies have shown that people with learning disabilities are at risk of overweight and obesity, The authors of this study were interested in the potential impact of beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of parents of adolescents with learning disabilities on the body mass index (BMI) of the adolescents and the parents. They also wanted to [read the full story…]
General practices in the UK sometimes offer counselling to people with mental health or psychosocial problems. This is an alternative to standard GP care or the conventional treatments such as cognitive behaviour therapy or antidepressants. However, recent guidelines have not been able to recommend the use of counselling because the evidence-base remains weak in comparison [read the full story…]
This study from the Netherlands looked at the perspectives of staff to substance use and misuse among people with learning disabilities. The authors point out that the use of psychoactive substances is a growing problem among clients of learning disability services in the Netherlands. However, there are few official statistics and rates of use are [read the full story…]
This systematic review set out to look at the efficacy of atypical antipsychotic medication, also known as second generation antipsychotics, commonly used in the treatment of schizophrenia. There continues to be debate around whether these second-generation medications are safer or more effective than typical antipsychotics as they still can produce severe side effects. Other posts [read the full story…]
The authors of this paper set out to look at rates of sexual abuse and interpersonal trauma in people with learning disability. They hoped to explore the relationship between such trauma and psychological distress and to describe a psychotherapeutic intervention for such people. The findings from a review of the literature suggested an inverse relationship [read the full story…]
