Search results for ‘Subject term:"learning disabilities"’ Sort:
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Strategic thinking
- Authors:
- DAVIES Jill, BURKE Christine
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Today, September 2012, pp.12-14.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
People with learning disabilities are more likely to develop mental health problems compared to the general population. The Government’s mental health strategy, ‘No health without mental health’ (DH, 2011), makes several references to people with learning disabilities. In particular, it highlights the importance of mental health services for people with learning disabilities and autism, the need to ensure that mainstream services are inclusive to this group, including that staff have appropriate skills and can provide reasonable adjustments to meet individual needs. The strategy also mentions the need for early intervention to prevent later problems for children with special educational needs and disabilities, including those who have underlying or associated mental health problems. In 2012, the Government issued an accompanying implementation framework that aims to translate the ideals of the strategy into concrete actions on a local level. This article discusses what the implementation framework means for people with learning disabilities. It shows that, despite the strategy highlighting the needs of people with learning disabilities, the framework offers little specifically for this group. This raises concern that this group will remain off the radar for those in mainstream services and organisations that could support them to maintain their mental health and wellbeing.
Strategic thinking
- Authors:
- DAVIES Jill, BURKE Christine
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, October 2012, pp.16-17.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
People with learning disabilities are more likely to develop mental health problems compared to the general population. The Government’s mental health strategy, ‘No health without mental health’ (DH, 2011), makes several references to people with learning disabilities. In particular, it highlights the importance of mental health services for people with learning disabilities and autism, the need to ensure that mainstream services are inclusive to this group, including that staff have appropriate skills and can provide reasonable adjustments to meet individual needs. The strategy also mentions the need for early intervention to prevent later problems for children with special educational needs and disabilities, including those who have underlying or associated mental health problems. In 2012, the Government issued an accompanying implementation framework that aims to translate the ideals of the strategy into concrete actions on a local level. This article discusses what the implementation framework means for people with learning disabilities. It shows that, despite the strategy highlighting the needs of people with learning disabilities, the framework offers little specifically for this group. This raises concern that this group will remain off the radar for those in mainstream services and organisations that could support them to maintain their mental health and wellbeing.
Lead on!
- Authors:
- DAVIES Jill, BURKE Christine
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, 10(8), October 2010, pp.26-27.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
People with learning disabilities have been encouraged to take up leadership roles through the development of local partnership boards and self-advocacy groups. This article describes a programme led by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities to help people with learning disabilities become leaders. The Learning for Leadership programme empowers participants to develop their leadership skills and learn how they can make real change happen. The programme has been run in Wales, Cornwall and Kent. In each area local leaders with a learning disability have coordinated the workshops alongside staff from the Foundation. The programme is highly interactive and personalised with group work, role-play, DVD clips and engaging in real life situations. The outcomes from the programme have ranged from better opportunities in gaining employment, being more confident is speaking up in public, and becoming more politically aware.
Support and services for young people with learning disabilities and mental health problems
- Authors:
- DAVIES Jill, GIRAUD-SAUNDERS Alison
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Review, 11(3), September 2006, pp.8-15.
- Publisher:
- Pier Professional
By the end of this year child and adolescent mental health services will be required to be fully comprehensive and include care pathways for children and young people with learning disabilities and mental health problems under the Public Service Agreement Targets. In this article the authors describe how services have traditionally served this group, explore the policy context for change and discuss some of the projects currently underway that aim to address the PSA target for later this year.
Learning with families: involving families in staff training
- Author:
- DAVIES Jill
- Journal article citation:
- Tizard Learning Disability Review, 10(3), July 2005, pp.12-17.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
The Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities has developed a tool to help staff and families to work better together. This article reports on the development of the training resource called Learning with Families where the contents were developed by family carers, who are also being encouraged to deliver the training, alongside professionals, to staff who work in learning disability services, in order to improve their understanding of the experiences of families.
Support for families with a learning disabled child
- Authors:
- DAVIES Jill, WILLIAMS Laura
- Journal article citation:
- Care and Health Magazine, 3.05.05, 2005, pp.34-35.
- Publisher:
- Care and Health
Looks at the findings of a report by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities (FPLD) which highlights the lack of support for many parents of children with learning disabilities. During the research families from in different parts of England and Wales, were contacted and their emotional needs from the time of diagnosis until their child was five were explored. Four main areas were examined: how the diagnosis was delivered; the information given immediately after the diagnosis and in following years; the emotional and practical support required; and the impact on family life.
Support and services for young people with learning disabilities and mental health problems
- Authors:
- DAVIES Jill, GIRAUD-SAUNDERS Alison
- Journal article citation:
- Housing Care and Support, 9(3), December 2006, pp.31-39.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
By the end of 2006 child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) were required to include care pathways for children and young people with learning disabilities and mental health problems under Public Service Agreement Targets. This article describes how services have traditionally served the mental health needs of children and young people with learning disabilities, explores the policy context for change and discusses some of the projects currently underway that aim to address the Public Service Agreement targets for later this year.
Access for all: improving access to services for children and young people with learning disabilities and mental health problems
- Author:
- DAVIES Jill
- Journal article citation:
- Childright, 223, February 2006, pp.18-21.
- Publisher:
- Children's Legal Centre
Workforce development: perspectives from people with learning disabilities
- Authors:
- DAVIES Jill, MATUSKA George
- Journal article citation:
- Tizard Learning Disability Review, 23(4), 2018, pp.165-172.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: Research into the skills and competencies required by staff working with people with learning disabilities has concentrated on staff views. The purpose of this paper is to explore what people with learning disabilities want from the workforce supporting them. The evaluation was commissioned by Health Education England working across Kent, Surrey and Sussex (HEE KSS). Design/methodology/approach: An easy read questionnaire, co-produced with people with learning disabilities, was completed with 70 participants, 65 of whom attended one of 10 workshops. Two questionnaires were also completed by parents on behalf of their child. The workshops also allowed for open discussion. Findings: People with learning disabilities value a workforce with a positive attitude, with staff who are skilled in supporting people to gain independence and have a voice. Research limitations/implications: Findings are relevant to staff recruitment, matching of staff to services and staff training. Originality/value: Although there is some previous research around service user views, this evaluation had a larger sample size. The findings were similar to previous studies, particularly around the kind of qualities required from staff, which were the ability to listen, have trust and be able to learn specific skills. Although the highest representation was from young people and young adults, participants ranged from 12 to over 65 years. Differences in views according to participant age ranges are also noted. (Publisher abstract)
First impressions: emotional and practical support for families
- Authors:
- WILLIAMS Laura, DAVIES Jill
- Journal article citation:
- Llais, 76, Spring 2005, pp.6-8.
- Publisher:
- Learning Disability Wales
The research report 'First Impressions' from the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities revealed that many families of children with learning disabilities are not getting the help, information and support they need. Speaking to families in different parts of England and Wales, the project explored the emotional needs of families from the time of their child's diagnosis until the age of five. This article summarises some of the findings.