Search results for ‘Subject term:"learning disabilities"’ Sort:
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Everyone communicates in some way
- Author:
- BAMFORTH Tony
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 20(4), 2007, pp.22-23.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
People who are unable to communicate their needs and wishes by speech or signing are in constant danger of being neglected. The author looks at legal and moral obligation of support workers to find ways of communicating with this group.
Communication - getting it right
- Author:
- BAMFORTH Tony
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 21(2), 2007, pp.18-20.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
The author discusses the quality of communication with people with learning and communication difficulties in their own home. The article draws on research findings which involved conducting interviews with family carers and support workers. The research produced some useful insights into what is involved in 'getting it right'.
Support characteristics associated with the quality of life of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities; the perspective of parents and direct support staff
- Authors:
- PETRY Katja, MAES Bea, VLASKAMP Carla
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 4(2), June 2007, pp.104-110.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The authors examined which support characteristics are associated with the quality of life (QOL) of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). The authors invited parents and direct support staff of people with PIMD to adopt the perspective of their child or the person with PIMD for whom they care. Some 76 parents and direct support staff of people with PIMD were interviewed, and to obtain data, transcripts were analyzed in-depth. The respondents mentioned: (1) characteristics with regard to the structure of the setting (physical environment, staff ratio, staff turnover, group size, and group composition); (2) characteristics with regard to the internal organization of the support (partnership, teamwork, interdisciplinary, and support planning); and (3) characteristics with regard to the support staff (experience, sensitive responsiveness, commitment and motivation, physical strength, knowledge and skills, and self-reflection). The respondents considered structural as well as operating features of the support setting to be important for the QOL of people with PIMD. The authors conclude that their main emphasis, however, was on the central role of direct support staff in supporting people with PIMD.
In the driving seat: a workbook to help me plan my support
- Authors:
- SANDERSON Helen, MCSTRAVICK Suzanne
- Publisher:
- In Control
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 24p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This guide is aimed at individuals who need support to help them make their own plan which enables them to live the life they want. It has 2 parts. Part 1, ‘Deciding Where To Go’, discusses information that needs to be considered before designing the plan, such as: what money is available; who can help make important decisions and put the plan together; what the person wants their life to be like and what they enjoy doing; and keeping fit and healthy. Part 2, ‘Getting There’, considers the support that is needed to enact the plan. It includes considering where the person want to live and spend time. It also includes consideration of who will provide support, what they should be like, what they should do, how they should be managed, and how much the support will cost.
Top tips: how you can support people to plan
- Authors:
- SANDERSON Helen, MCSTRAVICK Suzanne
- Publisher:
- In Control
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 35p.
- Place of publication:
- London
Some people need support to decide their route through life. This booklet is aimed at family members, friends, advocates and paid workers of people who require support. It provides them with ideas to help them support the person to make a plan which enables them to live the life they want. The guide has 2 parts. Part 1, ‘Deciding Where To Go’ , discusses information that need to be considered before designing the plan, such as: what money is available for support; who can help make important decisions and put the plan together; understanding the person and what they enjoy doing; and keeping fit and healthy. Part 2, ‘Deciding How To Get There’, considers the support that is needed to enact the plan. It includes considering where the person wants to live and what housing choices are possible. It also advises writing out a timetable which sets out how the person will spend their time and filling in the times of paid and unpaid support. Four different types of support that can be used are considered: specialist support providers; individual support providers; family and friends; and support that occurs naturally in the community. Employment of supporters, such as designing the person specification, job description and recruitment, are also considered.
Staff support, staff stress and job satisfaction in working with people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviours
- Authors:
- LEYIN Alan, WAKERLY Eleanor
- Journal article citation:
- Tizard Learning Disability Review, 12(4), December 2007, pp.31-41.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
In the context of a staff development programme, the relationships between work-related stress, staff support and job satisfaction were explored among staff groups in two residential assessment and treatment facilities for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour. Although overall support was relatively high for both formal and informal supports, only the informal supports from colleagues were negatively correlated with ratings of work-related stress. Work-related stress and job satisfaction were shown to be independent factors and thus levels of stress could not be inferred from overall ratings of job satisfaction, or vice versa. The study identified a potentially vulnerable group of staff who reported relatively high job satisfaction but also some degree of stress.
Care staff perceptions of challenging behaviour and fear of assault
- Authors:
- ROSE John L., CLEARY Adam
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 32(2), June 2007, pp.153-161.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This study investigates fear of assault in relation to exposure to challenging behaviour. The extent to which a social psychological model of fear of assault can be generalised to care staff working with individuals with intellectual disability (ID) was tested and the validity of the instruments used was assessed. A total of 87 care staff took part in a questionnaire-based study carried out in two separate and distinct organisations providing residential services to individuals with ID. In one service, staff exposure to challenging behaviour was high, with many clients having a forensic history, and in the other, staff exposure to challenging behaviour was low. According to one measure, care staff exposed to high levels of challenging behaviour were more fearful about work-related violence. However, no difference was found between the groups on the second measure. Regression analyses indicated some support for the generalisability of dimensions of the model of fear of assault in explaining feelings of unsafety. This study suggests that fear of assault may be an important factor when trying to understand care staff responses to challenging behaviour. However, the equivocal nature of the results raises questions about the validity of existing methods of assessing this fear.
The development of a questionnaire to assess the perceptions of care staff towards people with intellectual disabilities who display challenging behaviour
- Authors:
- WILLIAMS Ruth J., ROSE John L.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 11(2), June 2007, pp.197-211.
- Publisher:
- Sage
- Place of publication:
- London
The perceptions of staff about challenging behaviour may be a key factor in designing successful behavioural interventions. There is a lack of robust psychometric instruments designed to assess staff attributions towards incidents of challenging behaviour. The aim of this research was to develop a scale based upon the self-regulation theory of illness behaviour. Two staff focus groups identified and clarified relevant constructs to be included in the Challenging Behaviour Perception Questionnaire (CBPQ), which was then completed by 51 staff. Some correlations between the CBPQ and the Attributional Style Questionnaire were found. A significant amount of the variance in the perception of challenging behaviour was explained by the subscales of the new questionnaire. In particular, episodic timeline would seem to be a promising area for further investigation.
The role of training in improving community care staff awareness of mental health problems in people with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- COSTELLO Helen, BOURAS Nick, DAVIS Hilton
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 20(3), May 2007, pp.228-235.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Care staff play a key role in identifying individuals with intellectual disabilities and additional mental health problems. Yet, few receive training in mental health, and evidence about the effectiveness of training is scant. A pre–post study is reported, using a mental health screen and a self-report questionnaire to examine staff awareness of mental health problems and to measure whether training improved knowledge of psychopathology, attitudes towards mental health services and referral decisions. The sample was recruited from care staff from one South East London borough attending the workshop and a comparison group not in receipt of training. Prior to training, deficits in awareness were evident. The Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adults with a Developmental Disability (PAS-ADD) Checklist detected significant psychopathology in approximately one-third of the individuals judged to have no mental health problems according to staff. Four months after the delivery of training, significant improvements in knowledge, attitudes and referral decisions were observed. It is concluded that brief training interventions may improve awareness of mental health problems, but further research is needed to understand the referral process and to demonstrate the role of training in influencing actual staff behaviour.
Meeting the cancer information needs of people with learning disabilities: experiences of paid carers
- Authors:
- JONES Amelia, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35(1), March 2007, pp.12-18.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This paper reports on one of the findings of a small study that aimed to explore how people with learning disabilities accessed and were supported to use a pictorial cancer information book. Five people with learning disabilities who were affected by cancer and their paid carers participated in the study. Support staff in the study were the people who provided cancer information for people with learning disabilities. They struggled with this task, particularly when the person needed information about cancer that exceeded the staff's own knowledge and experience. Most were also inexperienced in dealing with the emotions around cancer. There was little evidence that the support staff received any support themselves, either from cancer professionals or from within their own organizations. The authors conclude that although the findings of this study are based on a small number of people, collaboration is required between health and learning disability services. Further more, in aid of collaboration, staff in learning disability services require education programmes to enhance their skills in facilitating the health needs of people with learning disabilities.