Readers interested in preventing alcohol misuse in young people will find these two new systematic reviews from the Cochrane Library worth looking at in more detail. Both reviews have been conducted by researchers from Brookes University in Oxford, who searched for randomised controlled trials including school aged children up to 18 years old. The first [read the full story…]
The authors of this study were interested to explore the barriers that might exist to enabling children with Down syndrome to do the recommended amount of daily physical activity. They were also interested to explore what might be facilitators to physical activity for this group. They carried out in-depth interviews with 20 parents (16 mothers, [read the full story…]
This cross sectional study uses data from the Health Survey for England to explore the relationship between poor mental health and low income. The research team from Exeter University included 94,870 adults in the study (1997-2006) which used the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to assess happiness, symptoms of anxiety or depression and sleep disturbance [read the full story…]
The information centre for health and social care regularly publishes statistics based on returns from authorities in England. This report shows a provisional analysis from returns by Council with Adult Social Services Responsibilities (CASSRs) and is based on information on alerts and referrals to adult social care safeguarding teams derived from the Abuse of Vulnerable [read the full story…]
The Department of Health has published the latest annual reports on the level of investment in mental health services. The National Survey of Investment in Adult Mental Health Services provides details of the level of investment in mental health services for working age adults (aged 18-64) in England for 2010/11 and compares it with the [read the full story…]
This paper set out to describe the value of using family systems theory as a meta-theory in psychotherapy with people with persons with learning disabilities and their families at different stages of the family life cycle. Family systems theory views the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions [read the full story…]
National policy relating to the support of people with learning disabilities has social inclusion as a key aim. The success of this aim is affected by the response of the general public. The author of this review set out to look at general population based research into awareness, attitudes and beliefs regarding learning disabilities from [read the full story…]
One of the components of policy to improve the health of people with learning disabilities is the recommendation that people should receive annual health checks. Following the introduction of a Direct Enhanced Service in England in 2008 to deliver annual health checks, progress has been made in increasing access to checks across primary care trusts [read the full story…]
NICE have published a new guide to help commissioners, clinicians and managers who commission services for people with common mental health disorders. Here’s the blurb from the NICE press release: Approaching the commissioning of mental health services as part of an integrated care pathway and illustrated with service models, the NICE guide for commissioners identifies [read the full story…]
Quality of life as a treatment outcome in services for people with learning disabilities and autism has received little attention in the literature. The researchers in this study combined quality of life measures with objective observations of challenging behaviours to evaluate outcomes for adults with learning disabilities and autism living in two different residential services. [read the full story…]
