Down syndrome is the most common cause of learning disability in the UK and life expectancy has shown a dramatic increase in the last fifty years. However, people with Down syndrome face significant health issues.
In this blog, GP Matt Hoghton looks at a recent clinical review published in the BMJ, which provides advice and guidance on managing care and support for people with Down syndrome.
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Hannah Morgan from the Centre for Disability Research at Lancaster University takes a critical look at a Swedish study on leisure and people with learning disabilities and discusses what the findings mean for the UK context.
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Adults with Williams syndrome are said to have a highly social personality, but can find it difficult to form and maintain relationships.
Here we report on a recent observational study which compared parent and self-report measures of social behaviour to observations of real life social situations.
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In her exploration of a Canadian study into extra care housing for older disabled people, Jo Moriatry gives a critical view of the research and offers some insights into what it means for the UK policy and practice context.
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Mindfulness is increasingly recognised as an effective way to reduce stress and improve well-being
Here Kate van Dooren looks at a randomised controlled trial of a mindfulness based stress reduction programme with mothers of children with autism and other developmental delays to look at its impact on levels of distress over time.
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The Directed Enhanced Scheme offers reimbursement to GP surgeries to carry out annual health checks for people with learning disabilities. Here, we report on a cohort study which looked at the impact of the scheme over a three year period.
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In her latest blog, Clarissa Giebel examines research into the effectiveness of the ‘Strategies for Relatives’ psychological and educational training programme for family carers of people with dementia and explores what the findings might mean for wider programme implementation.
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As the year draws to a close and we elves gear up for some seasonal duties, we take a look at some of the blogs we have published throughout 2014 and welcome some of our new bloggers.
Also, we will be looking for new contributors in 2015, so look out for more news of that in the new year.
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In our second blog exploring research on personal budgets, Mike Clark dissects the biggest national survey of social care personal budget users and finds that a seemingly simple policy idea is complex in its operation and discovers some ideas about organising this complexity to meet individual needs and improve outcomes.
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In the week following the publication of the Bubb report after the appalling scenes uncovered at Winterbourne View, a team in Ireland uncover similar abuses in a care centre in Mayo. Here we look at what they found and the initial response of the authorities there.
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