Editorial

Citation

McNicholl, D. (2014), "Editorial", Social Care and Neurodisability, Vol. 5 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCN-09-2014-0016

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Social Care and Neurodisability, Volume 5, Issue 4.

Welcome to Issue 5.4 of Social Care and Neurodisability. This Issue contains a wide range of papers, both in terms of focus and methodological design. Two of the papers, namely that by Emily Phipps, Nismen Lathif, Muhammad Chrishty and that by Maria Dale, Dawn Freire-Patino and Helen Matthews deal with aspects of Huntington's disease: the difficult matter of predictive testing and support for carers, respectively. A number of papers deal with acquired brain injury, including the trials about how brain injury is assessed and responded to in non-specialist settings by Mark Holloway; an evaluation of a group intervention for executive functioning and positive social interactions in an in-patient rehabilitation unit by Birgit Gurr and Mia Foxhall and the importance of the wider society in the rehabilitation of people with traumatic brain injury and mental health sequelae by Stephanie Wetherhill. The paper by Anne Fenech dealing with meaningful leisure activities and staff in residential care homes makes an important contribution to this area and has wide implications. Chris Lennard's paper on Deprivation of Liberty outlines the complexity and frustration of dealing with this piece of legislation. This paper was accepted before recent changes in the law; the latter most surely adds weight to the arguments made within the paper. Finally, the paper by Alexander Barker, Roshan das Nair, Nadina Lincoln and Nigel Hunt addresses the all-to-often overlooked area of psychosocial identity in progressive neurological conditions.

It is with some sadness I have to inform you that this will be the last issue of Social Care and Neurodisability. This was a great concept, primarily set up to highlight issues in social work practice in the area of acquired brain injury and combine that with aspects of law and legislation. In my time as editor I have endeavoured to build on and widen that focus a little further. However, getting the adequate quantity of quality papers has been difficult. It has involved a lot of effort by me and, more recently, by Kirsty Langly, an Assistant Psychologist who works with me. These, in addition to other commercial factors, unfortunately mean that the journal is not sustainable in it's current form and the decision has been made to cease publication.

It remains for me to thank all the Editorial Board for their support throughout my editorship and to everyone who has submitted papers and copy for the Journal. I would particularly like to thank you, the readership, for making this an important publication in the field for the five years of its life and who knows, perhaps, something similar may emerge at some point again in the future.

I wish you well for the future.

Slan agus beannacht.

Declan Mc Nicholl