Self injurious behaviour in people with learning disabilities can have a major impact on quality of life, in addition to physical harm. Positive behaviour approaches have been showing some degree of success in supporting people with self injurious behaviour, and this case study investigated the possibility of combining pharmacological strategies with positive behaviour support plans. [read the full story…]
We posted last year about a review of the literature on the effectiveness of psychotherapy with people with learning disabilities which suggested that there was evidence that it could be moderately effective. However, the authors urged some caution as the studies they reviews did not include any randomised controlled trials. This current review summarises the [read the full story…]
Have you ever had low back pain lasting longer than 6 weeks? I know a few elves who have. Did you know it is estimated that 28% of people will experience disabling low back pain (LBP) sometime during their lives and that 80% to 90% of attacks of low back pain resolve in about 6 [read the full story…]
Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic medication used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia, most usually used as a treatment of last resort where people have not responded to other anti-psychotic treatments. It has a number of severe side effects including and can also cause the excessive production of saliva and weight gain.. The researchers in [read the full story…]
Men who physically abuse their partners are often treated with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Men sometimes sign up to these treatment programmes voluntarily, but are also sometimes obliged to participate by a court order. CBT can help change behaviour and also break established thinking patterns and beliefs, but is there any reliable evidence that this [read the full story…]
One of the criticisms that health professionals sometimes make of evidence-based research is that individual studies or reviews do not apply to the specific patient they are caring for. Of course, each patient is unique with their own values and preferences, as well as their own particular clinical characteristics, genetic make-up, biological markers and sociodemographic [read the full story…]
Recently in the Netherlands, Dutch TV showed footage of a teenager known as ‘Brandon’ who was resident in a long stay institution. Because of his challenging behaviour, he was managed in this institution by the use of a harness, which was attached via a leather strap to a metal bracket on the wall. Dutch psychiatrists have [read the full story…]
The two month consultation period for the new NICE guideline on psychosis and schizophrenia in children and young people has now begun. You must be registered as a stakeholder to comment on the guideline and you have until 27th September 2012 to make your views known. The guideline is aimed at clinicians and service commissioners [read the full story…]
Young people with mental health problems often suffer from comorbidity, i.e. a complex mix of different conditions like depression, anxiety and conduct problems. Clinical research very often investigates specific treatments (e.g. CBT) for single disorders (e.g. depression) and guidelines and manuals are then developed for clinicians to help them treat these individual conditions. The problem [read the full story…]
Earlier this week we have looked at the reports into the Winterbourne View scandal, which identified some appalling practice by staff at the home. Today, we are looking at some research that focuses on the potential for injury of staff who are involved in physical interventions. Physical interventions are defined as responses to challenging behaviour [read the full story…]
