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Reflections upon the development of a dementia screening service for individuals with Down’s syndrome across the Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Area
- Authors:
- CAIRNS Victoria, LAMB Isobel, SMITH Esther
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(3), September 2011, pp.198-208.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
People with Down’s Syndrome are at a high risk of developing dementia. This has led to a learning disability service in the Hyndburn and Ribble Valley area to develop a screening service to address this. This paper reflects on this process 12 months after its inauguration. A multidisciplinary team consisting of professionals from Learning Disability Psychology, Learning Disability Speech and Language Therapy, Learning Disability Community Nursing and Older Adults Psychiatry has developed screening care pathways. The service conducts routine screening assessments, provides intervention for individuals where concerns arise and delivers training to carers. To date, 27 service users have received screening assessments and six have been identified as at moderate to high risk of developing dementia. Reflection and feedback has highlighted issues throughout the service development process, and an evaluation of the training provided by the service has found this to be effective in increasing carers understanding about dementia and learning disabilities.