The Mental Capacity Act (2005) was amended in 2007 with the addition of the deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS). They exist n the code of practice and came into force in April 2009. The safeguards are there to make sure that if anyone is unable to consent to care or treatment, there are systems in [read the full story…]
Goffman’s seminal work identified social stigma as severe disapproval of a person on the grounds of characteristics they have that tend to distinguish them from other members of the society in which they live. The researchers in this study were interested in the perception of stigma in 43 adults with learning disabilities and the nature [read the full story…]
Delusional-like experiences (DLE) are quite common in the general population with a median prevalence of around 3.5% (ref 2). Studies show that these experiences often go hand-in-hand with other mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as other chronic physical disorders such as impairments in hearing and vision. It is thought that [read the full story…]
Adults with severe learning disability also have a greater likelihood of having autism according to a new report published by the NHS Information Centre. The report combines data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) 2007 with findings from a new study based on a sample of people with learning disabilities living in private households [read the full story…]
Older families, where people with learning disabilities live with parents, brothers or sisters over 65, may need more support as they get older. As life expectancy for people with learning disabilities is it may be that increasingly, siblings will assume responsibility for care. The researchers in this study were interested to look at what factors [read the full story…]
Ten years ago, the Mencap campaigns team produced a document setting out the lack of activity for many people with learning disabilities, A Life in the Day, Campaigns Team, Mencap, February 2002.) This continues to be a concern today for many. This US study responded to the concerns expressed by parents and professionals about the [read the full story…]
Learning Disability Partnership Boards were established as a result of the Valuing People White Paper to work within the overall framework of local strategic partnerships to oversee inter-agency planning and service development. Crucial to the success of partnership boards was that the membership should be multi stakeholder, to include service users, carers, senior representatives from [read the full story…]
If you incline to start presentations with a ‘killer’ statistic, then the annual Health Survey for England (HSE) is one for you. HSE monitors trends in the nation’s health, and progress towards selected health targets. It helps commissioners to have a better understanding of health issues and enables decision makers to shape policies to improve [read the full story…]
I had a fantastic response to the November poll, so a big thanks to everyone who took the time to tell me what professional group you belong to. The Mental Elf is used most by mental health nurses who make up 21.9% of the total polled audience. It’s also well used by patients (12.4%), students [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…]
