Health care and risk of early death for people with learning disabilities

This commentary is on the original article "Causes of mortality in individuals with tuberous sclerosis complex" by Amin et al

Inhaler and nebuliser technique for people with a learning disability

Healthcare professionals who support people who require an inhaler or nebuliser need to know how to use the devices, monitor and assess patients’ inhaler techniques effectively. Often, people have inadequate inhaler techniques, which can lead to poor management of their respiratory condition, increased signs and symptoms, reduced quality of life and increased use of primary/secondary care services and treatment costs. This article explains how to use inhalers and nebulisers appropriately and considers some of the challenges for children and adults with a learning disability. It also describes some devices and assessment tools, and explores assessment/review methods to help ensure people use their inhalers/nebulisers successfully

‘Reasonable Adjustments’ under the UK’s Equality Act 2010:An enquiry into the care and treatment provided to patients with intellectual disabilities following admission to acute hospital settings

Objectives To understand the views of qualified medical practitioners regarding “reasonable adjustments” and the quality of the care and treatment provided to adults with intellectual disabilities when admitted to acute hospitals as inpatients. Methods Semi‐structured interviews took place with 14 medical practitioners, seven from each of two acute hospitals, with a thematic analysis of the resulting data. Results All 14 medical practitioners reported problems in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with intellectual disabilities. Most participants attributed these difficulties to communication problems and/or behaviours that, in the context of a hospital ward, were non‐conforming. However, a minority reported that, because they were likely to have multiple comorbid health conditions, patients with intellectual disabilities were more complex. In addition, half of all these respondents reported making little use of “reasonable adjustments” introduced to improve the quality of the care received by this group of patients. Conclusions Medical practitioners should make better use of the “reasonable adjustments” introduced in the UK to address inequities in care and treatment received by patients with intellectual disabilities. However, training should also focus on the biomedical complexities often presented by these men and women

Do people with intellectual disabilities understand their prescription medication? A scoping review

© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Background: People with intellectual disabilities are more likely to experience poor health than the general population and are frequently prescribed multiple medications. Therefore, it is important that people with intellectual disabilities understand their medication and potential adverse effects. Method: A scoping review explored people with intellectual disabilities' knowledge of prescription medications, their risks and how medication understanding can be improved. Results: Ten journal articles were included. People with intellectual disabilities often lacked understanding of their medication, including its name, purpose and when and how to take it. Participants were often confused or unaware of adverse effects associated with their medication. Information was sometimes explained to carers rather than people with intellectual disabilities. Some interventions and accessible information helped to improve knowledge in people with intellectual disabilities. Conclusion: There is a need for accessible and tailored information about medication to be discussed with people with intellectual disabilities in order to meet legal and best practice standards.Peer reviewe

Physical Education and Special Educational Needs in North-West England

The paper examines the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream secondary schools from the perspective of physical education (PE) teachers. The findings of this case study, which used individual interviews and was undertaken in the North-West of England, suggest that team games are activities which teachers find particularly difficult to plan and deliver in an inclusive way. Specifically, many teachers suggested that there was limited opportunity for individual planning during team games and that they found it difficult to develop and implement rules and adapt games to make them more inclusive. Moreover, there was an expressed feeling among teachers that, first, their initial teacher traininG (ITT) had not prepared them adequately for their day-to-day endeavours to include pupils with SEN in PE; and, second, that the schools in which they work are not providing them with any inclusion training. Finally, there was a general feeling among PE teachers that they are not receiving enough support from special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) and learning support assistants (LSAs) whose role is, lest we forget, to enable teachers to include pupils with SEN in the mainstream education system

What does good look like? A guide for observing in services for people with learning disabilities and/or autism

This resource provides an overview of what good support looks like in services for people with learning disabilities and/or autism. The definition of “good” is based on both research and good practice and emphasises the nature and quality of the support needed to ensure good quality of life outcomes for people with learning disabilities and/or autism

What does good look like? A guide for observing in services for people with learning disabilities and/or autism

This resource provides an overview of what good support looks like in services for people with learning disabilities and/or autism. The definition of “good” is based on both research and good practice and emphasises the nature and quality of the support needed to ensure good quality of life outcomes for people with learning disabilities and/or autism

Older parents of people who have a learning disability : perceptions of future accomodation needs

The aim of this qualitative study was to provide an insight into the perceptions of older parents of learning disabled people on the future accommodation needs of their adult children. Semi-structured interviews were used to seek parental awareness of residential options available, concerns in relation to future accommodation and the preferred accommodation options for their offspring. Four couples who shared the family home with an adult who has a learning disability took part in the study and data was analysed using a step by step form of content analysis as described by Burnard (1991). Emergent themes from transcripts were then organised into main categories The results of this study suggest that older parents are dissatisfied with both statutory and private services, that they have concerns for their non-disabled children and their own ageing. Being a parent to a person who has a learning disability is seen to be a difficult task and yet parents may want to provide support at home for as long a possible. Of the parents who participated in this study, three couples wanted to maintain their adult child at home for as long as possible and the parents who were actively seeking accommodation outside the family home expected to be involved in all aspects of their daughter�s care for the long term future

Eyewitness recall and suggestibility in individuals with Down syndrome

Background: Many criminal justice professionals perceive the eyewitness skills of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) to be weaker than those of typically developing (TD) individuals. Down syndrome (DS) is one of the most common genetic causes of ID, yet there is no research addressing eyewitness skills in this population. This study examinedthe eyewitness recall and suggestibility of young peoplewith DS. Method: Young people with DS and mental age-matched TD children viewed a video of a non-violent petty crime and were subsequently asked to freely recall the event before being asked general and specific questions incorporating both misleading and non-leading prompts. Results: Compared to mental age-matched TDindividuals, young people with DS:produced as much information; were just as accurate;and were no moresuggestible. Conclusions: The eyewitness memory skills of young people with DS are comparable to those of mental age-matched TDchildren. The implications of these findings for the forensic context and eyewitness memory are discussed