A study about making the most of Care Quality Commission data (Predicting and detecting abuse in registered care homes and supported living for people with a learning disability and autistic people):Easy Read Summary Report

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Compounded perturbations in coastal areas: contrasting responses to nutrient enrichment and the regime of storm-related disturbance depend on life-history traits

1. Natural systems are exposed to compounded perturbations, whose changes in temporal variance can be as important as those in mean intensity for shaping the structure of assemblages. Specifically, climate-related physical disturbances and nutrient inputs due to natural and/or anthropogenic activities occur concomitantly, but experimental tests of the simultaneous effects of changes in the regime of more than one perturbation are generally lacking. Filling this gap is the key to understand ecological responses of natural assemblages to climate-related change in the intensity and temporal patterning of physical disturbance combined with other global stressors. 2. Responses to factorial manipulations of nutrient enrichment, mean intensity and temporal variability in storm-like mechanical disturbance were examined, using benthic assemblages of tide-pools as model system. 3. Response variables were mean abundance values and temporal variances of taxa with different life-traits. Consistent negative effects of disturbance intensity were observed for the mean cover of long-living taxa (algal canopies and the polychaete Sabellaria alveolata), whose temporal fluctuations were also reduced by more severe mechanical stress. More resilient taxa (ephemeral algae, mostly green of the genus Ulva) increased under enriched conditions, particularly when low-intensity events were irregularly applied over time. Opposite effects of disturbance intensity depending on nutrient availability occurred on filamentous algae (e.g. red of the genus Ceramium). This was probably due to the fact that, although nutrient enrichment stimulated the abundance of both algal groups, when this condition was combined with relatively mild physical disturbance the competitively superior ephemeral green algae tended to become dominant over filamentous red algae. The same did not occur under high intensity of disturbance since it likely damaged large, foliose fronds of Ulva-like forms more than small, filamentous fronds of Ceramium-like forms. Grazers were positively affected by nutrients, likely responding indirectly to more food available. 4. A direct relationship between the mean abundance of most organisms and their temporal fluctuations was documented. However, all organisms persisted throughout the study, even under experimental conditions associated to the largest temporal variation in their abundance, likely due to their ability to resist to/quickly recover from, the applied perturbations. Therefore, in systems with great recovery abilities of dominant organisms (e.g. rocky intertidal, grasslands), effects of traits of the regime of disturbance and nutrient enrichment may modulate the fluctuations of populations not through the elimination and substitution of species, but through changes in relative abundances of the same species. This contrasts with the theory that temporal variation in abundance would be directly related to the risk of local extinction. Present findings enable more accurate predictions of the consequences of climatic and non-climatic scenarios on the biodiversity of marine and terrestrial systems sharing analogous functional traits of organisms. Future more intense physical disturbances are expected to exert negative effects on slow-growing/recovering species (e.g. habitat-formers) irrespectively of the temporal patterning of the same disturbances and nutrient inputs. On the contrary, more resistant species (e.g. encrusting algae on rocky shores or below-ground vegetation in grasslands) are expected to benefit from intense physical disturbance. Species whose abundance is more directly related to the availability of nutrients (e.g. filamentous and ephemeral algae or herbs) are expected to generally increase under enriched conditions, but their ability to eventually become dominant would depend on their ability to grow fast and attain cover large enough to overwhelm any possible control of concomitant disturbance intensity on their abundance. If, such as in the present examined system, virtually all organisms can persist, over the temporal scale of the experiment, under any combination of physical disturbance and nutrient availability, the resulting overall diversity is not predicted to change drastically. Nevertheless, low-intensity events evenly distributed and high-intensity events irregularly distributed appear as the conditions supporting the highest richness of taxa, independently of the availability of nutrients

“The whole thing is beyond stress”: Family perspectives on the experience of hospitalisation through to discharge for individuals with severe learning disabilities and complex needs

© 2024 The Authors. British Journal of Learning Disabilities published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Background People with severe learning disabilities and complex needs are more likely to experience delayed discharge from hospital; however, there is little research into their experience in hospital and as they move out as part of the Transforming Care Programme. Methods Six family members of people with complex needs who had moved out of hospital took part in four focus groups co-facilitated with an expert-by-experience consultant. Participants' relatives had hospital admissions that ranged from 6 weeks to 11 years. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Additional reflections are included from an expert-by-experience consultant to capture their unique perspective. Results Family members reported stories of abuse in hospital and parallel experiences of institutionalisation and trauma, resulting in long-lasting impacts on themselves and their relative. Family members felt let down and undervalued by professionals. They described relief when their relatives moved out of hospital, but there were on-going difficulties accessing the right support in the community and so stability felt fragile. Conclusions Key recommendations to support community living include respecting family members' expertise, improving partnership working and offering psychological support for family members and people with complex needs post-discharge.Peer reviewe

Effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the mental health of carers of people with intellectual disabilities

Introduction: The measures implemented to manage the COVID‐19 pandemic have been shown to impair mental health. This problem is likely to be exacerbated for carers. Method: Informal carers (mainly parents) of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, and a comparison group of parents of children without disabilities, completed an online questionnaire. Almost all the data were collected while strict lockdown conditions were in place. Results: Relative to carers of children without intellectual disability, carers of both children and adults with intellectual disability had significantly greater levels of a wish fulfilment coping style, defeat/entrapment, anxiety, and depression. Differences were 2–3 times greater than reported in earlier pre‐pandemic studies. Positive correlations were found between objective stress scores and all mental health outcomes. Despite their greater mental health needs, carers of those with intellectual disability received less social support from a variety of sources. Conclusions: The greater mental health needs of carers in the context of lesser social support raises serious concerns. We consider the policy implications of these findings

The experiences of mothers of children and young people with intellectual disabilities during the first COVID-19 lockdown period

Background: Recent COVID-19 lockdown restrictions resulted in reduced access to educational, professional and social support systems for children with intellectual disabilities and their carers.Aim: The aim of this study was to gain insight into the ways mothers of children with intellectual disabilities coped during the first 2020 lockdown period. Methods: Eight mothers of children with intellectual disabilities were interviewed. The recordings of these interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis. Results: Three main themes were identified: carrying the burden; a time of stress; and embracing change and looking to the future. Conclusions: All mothers experienced increased burden and stress. However, some also described some positive impact of lockdown conditions on them as well as on their child's well-being and behaviour. These findings are discussed in the light of the (Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33, 2020, 1523) survey results on parental coping and suggestions for future service provision during pandemic conditions are proposed.</p

The experiences of mothers of children and young people with intellectual disabilities during the first COVID-19 lockdown period

Background: Recent COVID-19 lockdown restrictions resulted in reduced access to educational, professional and social support systems for children with intellectual disabilities and their carers.Aim: The aim of this study was to gain insight into the ways mothers of children with intellectual disabilities coped during the first 2020 lockdown period. Methods: Eight mothers of children with intellectual disabilities were interviewed. The recordings of these interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis. Results: Three main themes were identified: carrying the burden; a time of stress; and embracing change and looking to the future. Conclusions: All mothers experienced increased burden and stress. However, some also described some positive impact of lockdown conditions on them as well as on their child's well-being and behaviour. These findings are discussed in the light of the (Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33, 2020, 1523) survey results on parental coping and suggestions for future service provision during pandemic conditions are proposed.</p

The experiences of mothers of children and young people with intellectual disabilities during the first COVID‐19 lockdown period

Abstract: Background: Recent COVID‐19 lockdown restrictions resulted in reduced access to educational, professional and social support systems for children with intellectual disabilities and their carers. Aim: The aim of this study was to gain insight into the ways mothers of children with intellectual disabilities coped during the first 2020 lockdown period. Methods: Eight mothers of children with intellectual disabilities were interviewed. The recordings of these interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis. Results: Three main themes were identified: carrying the burden; a time of stress; and embracing change and looking to the future. Conclusions: All mothers experienced increased burden and stress. However, some also described some positive impact of lockdown conditions on them as well as on their child's well‐being and behaviour. These findings are discussed in the light of the (Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33, 2020, 1523) survey results on parental coping and suggestions for future service provision during pandemic conditions are proposed

Exoplanet phase curves: observations and theory

Phase curves are the best technique to probe the three dimensional structure of exoplanets' atmospheres. In this chapter we first review current exoplanets phase curve observations and the particular challenges they face. We then describe the different physical mechanisms shaping the atmospheric phase curves of highly irradiated tidally locked exoplanets. Finally, we discuss the potential for future missions to further advance our understanding of these new worlds.Comment: Fig.5 has been updated. Table 1 and corresponding figures have been updated with new values for WASP-103b and WASP-18b. Contains a table sumarizing phase curve observation