Search results for ‘Subject term:"learning disabilities"’ Sort:
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Commentary on: a comparison of dementia assessment service provision across three English county intellectual disability services
- Author:
- DODD Karen
- Journal article citation:
- Tizard Learning Disability Review, 26(3), 2021, pp.142-147.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consider the issue of types of assessment offered by services for people with learning disabilities from the research study “A Comparison of Dementia Assessment Services for People with Intellectual Disabilities”. Design/methodology/approach: The commentary is based on a review of the associated literature. Findings: Assessment for possible dementia is a complex activity. The gold standard is to ensure that the assessment process is comprehensive including both direct assessments with the person and gathering information from key informants. The issues in not adopting this methodology are considered, as are issues in what services and assessments are called. Originality/value: The commentary considers the studies presented from a practitioner perspective. (Edited publisher abstract)
COVID-19: meeting the psychological needs of people with learning/intellectual disabilities, and their families and staff
- Authors:
- SAMUEL Judith, DODD Karen
- Publisher:
- British Psychological Society
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 8
- Place of publication:
- Leicester
Guidance to support health and social care professionals to meet the psychological needs of people with learning and intellectual disabilities, their families and carers. It explores the different psychological factors that may influence and impact the wellbeing of people with learning or intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 crisis and highlights where psychologists can offer support and signposts professionals to helpful resources. Specifically, the guidance considers: the protective factors, the precipitating and maintaining factors, the psychological interventions/actions that may be available, and what may be important during the recovery/transformation phase. (Edited publisher abstract)
Transition to old age - what can we do to aid the process?
- Author:
- DODD Karen
- Journal article citation:
- Advances in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities, 2(3), September 2008, pp.7-12.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
This article looks at how people with learning disabilities, including people with learning disabilities who develop dementia, make the transition to old age. It identifies key issues in understanding the transition to old age for people with learning disabilities, including how the ageing process may be different for this group, lack of agreement as to what constitutes old age for people with learning disabilities, the heterogeneity that might help make the transition easier for people.
About dementia: for people with learning disabilities
- Authors:
- DODD Karen, TURK Vicky, CHRISTMAS Michelle
- Publisher:
- British Institute of Learning Disabilities
- Publication year:
- 2005
- Pagination:
- 12p.
- Place of publication:
- Kidderminster
Easy-to-read booklet for people with learning disabilities who want to understand dementia. It will be particularly helpful for people who have a friend or family member with dementia, or who are worried about developing dementia themselves. This booklet is designed to help more able people with learning disabilities who want to understand and talk about dementia.
Reflections on change: supporting people with learning disabilities in residential services
- Authors:
- SALMON Rebecca, HOLMES Nan, DODD Karen
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42(2), 2014, pp.141-152.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study describes research that was designed to explore the reflections and perspectives of staff who had experienced the change from institutional care to person-centred care and learn what factors had supported the change to, and continued adoption of, person-centred care. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with seven participants working in residential homes for people with learning disabilities. The interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Participants described positive changes, for example they were able to offer choice and spend time with residents. They perceived the work as less pressured and more relaxed. For some, this had the impact of encouraging them to work harder and freeing up their time to facilitate forming relationships with residents in the homes. Participants discussed an increased autonomy, responsibility and accountability in their work and a sense of being constantly monitored. There appeared to be reluctance amongst participants to own difficulties and anxieties associated with changes. Participants identified a number of strategies and issues that they felt had supported these changes. The research suggests some areas of consideration for implications regarding future practice in staff support and training within services for people with learning disabilities. (Publisher abstract)
Effectiveness of brief training in cognitive-behaviour therapy techniques for staff working with people with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- DODD Karen, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 7(5), 2013, pp.300-311.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: There is little research addressing the delivery of training for health professionals who are interested in using cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) techniques as an adjunct to their current role. This paper describes the establishment and evaluation of a CBT training course to develop CBT skills in staff working with people with intellectual disabilities in Trust healthcare settings. The course would enable staff to learn how they could incorporate these skills into their daily practice to help them understand and work more effectively with people with intellectual disabilities. Design/methodology/approach: A CBT training course was designed to teach staff the use of a number of basic and specific CBT techniques and principles that staff could use within their current roles. Specific issues in relation to people with intellectual disabilities were included, e.g. understanding cognitive deficits as well as cognitive distortions. The course ran for six sessions on a fortnightly basis, followed by a two-month follow-up session. Participants completed a pre- and post-assessment questionnaire and kept a reflective diary. Findings: The training clearly focused on teaching skills that were feasible for staff to use in their own work settings. The evaluations, especially from the reflective diaries and the post-course questionnaires clearly demonstrated that this aim was achieved. Originality/value: This was a pilot study as there has been no previously published evidence of using this approach within intellectual disabilities services. A further training course has been planned to continue evaluating the effectiveness of this approach. (Publisher abstract)
Evaluation and effectiveness of pain recognition and management training for staff working in learning disability services
- Authors:
- MACKEY Ellen, DODD Karen
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(3), September 2011, pp.243-251.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study asked managers of learning disability services how they recognised pain and how they managed pain for people with learning disabilities, before and 3 to 5 months after training. Participants included 197 managers of learning disability services in Surrey, England. Training covered pain thresholds, pain recognition and management, health action plans and medicines policies. At the end of training attendees were asked about their service’s management of pain. Findings revealed that after training, significantly more services were using communication tools such as picture scales and more pain recognition tools such as the Abbey pain scale and the Disability Distress Assessment Tool. Use of pain management strategies did not change significantly. There was a significant increase in the number of services including information on how a person displays pain, the possible causes of pain and how a person likes their pain managed in their health action plan. The authors concluded that staff training helps services to be more aware of pain and improves the range of methods used.
‘I Feel Pain’– audit of communication skills and understanding of pain and health needs with people with learning disabilities
- Authors:
- BEACROFT Monica, DODD Karen
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(2), June 2011, pp.139-147.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
People with learning disabilities are known to find it harder than other people to access treatment for general health problems. A 4-part audit was conducted with people with learning disabilities to investigate pain recognition and management. This article describes the section of the audit which looked at what people with learning disabilities understood and experienced when they had pain compared to good practice from the literature. A total of 40 people with mild or moderate learning disabilities across Surrey participated in the study. The results show that the participants struggle to discuss pain effectively, and may describe it in terms of feelings or emotions. Little use is made of pain recognition tools or communication aids. The most common response to having pain is to be taken to the doctors, and many people were not offered pain medication by staff. Other alternative strategies were not used to manage pain. Although most people did not make the decision as to whether they needed to see their doctor, most people knew who their doctor was and reported good experiences in terms of information sharing once at the appointment. Information booklets and training are being developed to help staff and family carers recognise and manage pain in people with learning disabilities.
Exploring sexual and social understanding: an illustrated pack designed for working with people with learning disabilities
- Authors:
- DODD Karen, et al
- Publisher:
- British Institute of Learning Disabilities
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 46p., CD-ROM
- Place of publication:
- Kidderminster
An illustrated pack designed for working with people with learning disabilities This pack has been developed to provide a flexible visual resource that can be used to assess sexual knowledge and capacity to consent, and help to teach and discuss appropriate social and sexual behaviour. It has been evaluated with a range of people with learning disabilities. The pack includes a CD-ROM containing 178 pictures that can be arranged into sequences to form stories. These can represent conventional, unconventional, legal and illegal social and sexual activities. The stories can be created either by the person with learning disabilities or by the professional. The pack also contains a capacity assessment form to help determine whether the person with learning disabilities has the capacity to consent to a specific sexual relationship.
Feeling poorly: a complete assessment and training pack to help people with learning disabilities communicate effectively about symptoms of illness and pain
- Authors:
- DODD Karen, GATHARD Jo
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Publication year:
- 1998
- Pagination:
- 85p., looseleaf, booklet
- Place of publication:
- Brighton
This comprehensive full-colour training resource is designed to enable people with learning disabilities to develop the skills to communicate effectively about pain. Feeling Poorly includes client assessment and evaluation tools, in addition to guideline materials for taught sessions which will help staff to ascertain existing knowledge and understanding prior to facilitating the group. The materials also include photocopiable masters of the evaluation sheets, OHP masters and lotto cards.