People with learning disabilities, like others in society, will come into contact with the criminal justice system, potentially as victims, witnesses or suspects. This study set out to focus on police interviews and the capacity of adults with learning disabilities to give evidence in Court. Research into the types of vulnerability seen by people interviewed [read the full story…]
School prevention programs aimed at reducing alcohol misuse are good enough to consider widespread use, according to a new systematic review from the Cochrane Library. The review found 53 studies that explored a range of interventions. Some studies concluded that the prevention program had no effect, but others showed more positive results. The authors could [read the full story…]
This study looked at the use of contraception by a study population of 234 women aged 15-59 who lived in services provided by a Dutch service provider. The authors gathered data from the pharmacy database, attending physicians and medical files. The study found that 48%, of the 234 women used some method of contraception, 78% [read the full story…]
This paper describes the need for transparent and honest relationships with stakeholders in the process of reproviding a service. It highlights the role of audit and monitoring quality to determine the ‘health’ and effectiveness of services. Having a collaborative approach to addressing problems means that involvement is impolitic so stakeholders can offer feedback based on [read the full story…]
Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia have published a new systematic review that explores three different home and community care models for the elderly. The evidence in this field is patchy. Studies are heterogeneous (i.e. too different from one another to be pooled in a meta-analysis) and results are inconsistent. [read the full story…]
This meta analysis collated data from published literature between 1980 and 2009 to estimate the prevalence of intellectual disability across all such studies. The authors state the prevalence of intellectual disability across all 52 studies included was 10.37/1000 population. Estimates varied according to income group of country of origin, age-group of study population and study design. [read the full story…]
This study set out to investigate whether the triad of impairments and severe challenging behaviour had an impact on the lifestyle of adults living in staff-supported community housing using data collected on 427 adults living in 146 staffed houses. The authors found that after controlling for adaptive behaviour, there were no significant differences between those with [read the full story…]
This systematic review of prevalence rates of chronic health conditions in children with intellectual disability found 2,994 relevant studies published between 1996 to 2008. 31 studies were included that the authors felt had sufficient methodological quality. They found that the 6 most prevalent chronic health conditions were: Epilepsy (22.0/100), Cerebral palsy (19.8/100), Anxiety disorder (17.1/100), [read the full story…]
This study reports an online survey that set out to find out more about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in later life. The survey consisted of an online questionnaire (biographical information, general health, quality of life, score on Autism Quotient [AQ] measure) of adults in their forties, resident in the UK, diagnosed with ASD or who [read the full story…]
This study described a 3-phase staff training project designed to increase client engagement in an adult habilitation centre. Phase one developed curriculum guidelines, with phase two being training for paraprofessional staff. The third phase was the implementation of the clinical experience. The authors found that engagement of clients increased with the implementation of systematic instruction [read the full story…]
