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1 – 10 of over 13000Peter Woodward and Sarah Halls
The general knowledge and skills of staff working with people with learning disabilities have been of interest for a number of years, and Valuing People (DH, 2001) highlighted…
Abstract
The general knowledge and skills of staff working with people with learning disabilities have been of interest for a number of years, and Valuing People (DH, 2001) highlighted them as a significant issue. Research has shown that there are further deficits in the knowledge and skills of staff concerning the mental health of people with learning disabilities. This paper gives a general overview of some of the factors involved in the training and knowledge of learning disabilities staff relating to mental health. Early indications from research have shown that training may be effective as a way of addressing these problems, but further research and clear guidance on best practice in implementing staff training are needed in this important area.
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Jane Eastwood, Ronnie Borrows, Dave Ferguson, Nike Redding and Matthew Ricketts
Green Light was developed to enable service providers to implement the National Service Framework for Mental Health (NSF MH), and asks how good your mental health services are for…
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Green Light was developed to enable service providers to implement the National Service Framework for Mental Health (NSF MH), and asks how good your mental health services are for people with a learning disability. A multi‐agency user and carer project in Hampshire has evaluated and improved the quality of existing service provision for adults with learning disabilities who also have a mental health problem.
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Neill Simpson, Margaret Whoriskey and Michael McCue
Service systems for people with learning disabilities in Scotland have developed in the context of the Scottish legal system and devolved policy for health. Scottish organisations…
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Service systems for people with learning disabilities in Scotland have developed in the context of the Scottish legal system and devolved policy for health. Scottish organisations are responding to the spectrum of mental health needs by working in partnership to improve quality. This article describes this system and the key organisations, and presents some findings of the National Overview Report of services undertaken by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland.
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An overview of the mechanisms for policy implementation in Wales to better meet the mental health needs of people with learning disabilities is given. Commissioning of health…
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An overview of the mechanisms for policy implementation in Wales to better meet the mental health needs of people with learning disabilities is given. Commissioning of health services within Wales is at two levels. The complex relationships between commissioners, planners and service providers are described. Reviews of mental health services and secure services are due in 2007. Both include services for people with learning disabilities. The input of the Learning Disability Implementation Advisory Group into initiatives is outlined.
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Alaa Al‐Sheikh and Jean O'Hara
Mental health assessment in people with learning disability can be a challenging process for clinicians. The more severe the cognitive impairment and level of learning disability…
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Mental health assessment in people with learning disability can be a challenging process for clinicians. The more severe the cognitive impairment and level of learning disability, the less likely it is that the clinician can reliably confirm the diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. Coordinated, multi‐modal interdisciplinary team assessment is the way forward, as it draws together the bio‐psychosocial model of interviewing and mental health care planning. In this article we go through the psychiatric assessment structure and highlight the differences in assessing people with learning disability compared with their peers in the general population. We give special consideration to mental health assessments in emergency settings, and to people with challenging behaviour.
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In the last decade we have witnessed much debate and activity around the provision of mental health services for people with learning disabilities in England. This article looks…
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In the last decade we have witnessed much debate and activity around the provision of mental health services for people with learning disabilities in England. This article looks not only at current initiatives to improve mental health care from around England, but also places them within a policy context. Unfortunately there are areas that still fail to provide a basic care standard, some of which has been reported throughout the media from recent investigations. Where this is the case, we outline the responses and actions that have been put in place to address these issues.To maintain a momentum for positive change for the mental health care of people with learning disabilities, there now needs to be cooperation between services that traditionally have not worked together for the benefit of this client group. Before an equality of mental health service provision, in line with national standards, can be realised the traditional views and values of service providers and commissioners will need to be challenged and tuned to the needs of this group of people.
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Eddie Chaplin, Jean O'Hara, Geraldine Holt, Steve Hardy and Nick Bouras
There are high rates of emotional, behavioural and psychiatric problems (Cooper et al, 2007) in the learning disability population. This paper describes the Mental Health in…
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There are high rates of emotional, behavioural and psychiatric problems (Cooper et al, 2007) in the learning disability population. This paper describes the Mental Health in Learning Disabilities (MHiLD) service for adults with learning disabilities in four South London boroughs. This service has been in operation in two South East London boroughs from 1982, and was extended to a third in 1999 and a fourth in 2006.
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Chih Sin, Rob Francis and Chloe Cook
Despite laudable intentions and evidence of progress, significant barriers remain in relation to the access to and experiences of child and adolescent mental health services…
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Despite laudable intentions and evidence of progress, significant barriers remain in relation to the access to and experiences of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). This article draws on the findings of a literature review and reports a number of barriers and their impact on children and young people with learning disabilities. Children and young people with learning disabilities are at a disproportionate risk of experiencing mental health problems yet access and experience of CAMHS can be highly uneven. Families are often unclear about how to access mental health services and what services are available. Such information and knowledge‐related barriers are particularly significant for certain minority ethnic groups. Barriers related to the CAMHS workforce mix, skills and staff attitudes can also mean that skills required for working with people with both mental health conditions and learning disabilities can be lacking. At a macro level, systems‐related barriers include a lack of joint commissioning and planning, unclear care pathways, the lack of a single point of referral, difficult transition to adult mental health services and a lack of inappropriate services.
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Val Williams and Pauline Heslop
Young people with learning disabilities frequently experience mental health support needs, especially at the transition stages as they move into adulthood. The Count Us In inquiry…
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Young people with learning disabilities frequently experience mental health support needs, especially at the transition stages as they move into adulthood. The Count Us In inquiry (Carpenter, 2002) suggested that the prevalence rate for mental health needs in young people with learning disabilities may be as high as 40%, four times as high as for young people in general. This paper reports on an action research study in Somerset which was funded by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities. The study followed young people and practitioners in adopting a largely social model of mental health distress. It focused on positive emotional support, and worked with young people themselves to find new ways of tackling these issues. Young people in the study said that the support they most valued was that gained through friendships. A small, self‐selecting group of students worked with the project, and they designed and piloted a short course about emotional support for other young people. The findings show that this was effective in helping the young people talk more freely about their feelings, and build their confidence and mutual trust. This article argues that, by developing their own self‐determination, young people with learning disabilities can build their resilience to emotional problems and take more control over their own lives.
Bob Gates, Colin Griffiths, Paul Keenan, Sandra Fleming, Carmel Doyle, Helen L. Atherton, Su McAnelly, Michelle Cleary and Paul Sutton