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Tackling indifference: healthcare services for people with learning disabilities: national overview report - December 2009
- Author:
- NHS Quality Improvement Scotland
- Publisher:
- NHS Quality Improvement Scotland
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 43p.
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) wrote quality indicators for services for children and adults with learning disabilities. The quality indicators are used to check how well health services are meeting people’s needs. During 2008–2009 NHS QIS looked at services for children and adults with learning disabilities in Scotland to find out what was working well and what could be better. The review teams found lots of examples of new and helpful projects. They also found that services for people with learning disabilities and their carers are improving. But there are areas that need to be better. Recommendations are listed.
Supporting information for tackling indifference: healthcare services for people with learning disabilities
- Author:
- NHS Quality Improvement Scotland
- Publisher:
- NHS Quality Improvement Scotland
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 98p.
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) has reviewed access to general health services for people with learning disabilities and NHS QIS have travelled around Scotland to get a full understanding of the services and arrangements in place. NHS QIS have done this in partnership with people with learning disabilities and their carers, and with health and social care professionals which has added further richness to the findings. This review was wide ranging and there were many examples of innovative and effective practice. Some of these are recorded in Section 9 of this report. There is evidence that services are improving for people with learning disabilities and their carers and the report also identified areas where further improvement can be made. Recommendations are made in full in Section 6 of the report. Findings are in three key areas: awareness and implementation of the key Acts, particularly AWIA and DDA as they both support assessing individual need and improving communication across services, access to general health services, scheduled and out-of-hours (this also includes health promotion and improvement), and effective joined up working both across and within services which is critical to the delivery of safe, effective care. The ‘join’ between services should be invisible to individuals.
Money talks
- Author:
- JULIAN George
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, February 2009, pp.30-31.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
Summarises the findings of an evaluation of the individual budget pilot programme, which involved 13 local authorities across England. The study aimed to examine whether individual budgets improved people's lives and what effect that had on the workforce. Messages from the individual budget pilots for learning disabilities services are highlighted.
Green light for mental health in Hampshire
- Authors:
- EASTWOOD J., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Advances in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities, 3(2), June 2009, pp.3-7.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Green Light was developed to enable service providers to implement the National Service Framework for Mental Health (NSF MH), and asks how good your mental health services are for people with a learning disability. A multi-agency user and carer project in Hampshire has evaluated and improved the quality of existing service provision for adults with learning disabilities who also have a mental health problem.
Family quality of life among families with a member who has an intellectual disability: an exploratory examination of key domains and dimensions of the revised FQOL Survey
- Authors:
- WERNER S., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 53(6), June 2009, pp.501-511.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The Family Quality of Life Survey (FQOLS-2006) was developed as the result of increased interest in family quality of life (FQOL) among families with a member who has an intellectual disability (ID). The instrument includes nine life domains and six dimensions reflecting the main areas and characteristics of FQOL. The aim of the current study was to provide a descriptive analysis of the domains and dimensions of the survey and to explore their relationship to one another and to global satisfaction. A convenience sample of 35 participants with a family member who had ID completed the FQOLS-2006 in a large urban centre in Canada. The data were analysed using descriptive analyses. The findings showed that although participants differentiated between different domains and dimensions, as reflected in their variability, stability was also found. For example, support from others was rated lowest across most dimensions, while family relationships and health of the family were generally rated higher. The findings strengthen the importance of examining both the overall perception of FQOL as well as the perceptions in individual life domains. Moreover, they highlight the need to examine each life domain according to its various dimensions. In sum, the results call for further examination of the FQOLS-2006 as a useful tool for assessing FQOL and for implementing services based on it.
Which way for partnership boards?
- Author:
- FYSON Rachel
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, 9(4), June 2009, pp.34-36.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
Learning Disability Partnership Boards were established to provide oversight of the change necessary to ensure that the Valuing People objectives were met. This article reports on research carried out by Mencap to provide evidence regarding the role and effectiveness of the Partnership Boards. The key findings were that many people with learning disabilities still felt that not enough was being done to enable and support their involvement in Partnership Boards. Findings relating to inclusion, democratic processes, evaluation, impact on local service planning and barriers to change are discussed. The article concludes with recommendations to secure a positive future for Partnership boards.
Valuing People and research: outcomes of the Learning Disability Research Initiative
- Authors:
- GRANT Gordon, RAMCHARAN Paul
- Journal article citation:
- Tizard Learning Disability Review, 14(2), April 2009, pp.25-34.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Prior to the launch of Valuing People (DH, 2001), Gordon Grant and Paul Ramcharan were appointed by the Department of Health as co-ordinators of the Learning Disability Research Initiative (LDRI). The LDRI was a £2m research initiative, funded through the Department of Health's Policy Research Programme, linked to the implementation of Valuing People. The LDRI was brought to a conclusion in November 2007. This paper summarises the main findings of the LDRI and includes a listing of the resultant 13 studies. Reference is made to Valuing People's main principles of rights, choice, inclusion and independence. The authors conclude by suggesting priorities for extending the evidence base.
Using quality of life to evaluate outcomes and measure effectiveness
- Authors:
- KOBER Ralph, EGGLETON Ian R.C.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 6(1), March 2009, pp.40-51.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Evaluating the outcomes achieved by service providers who assist people with intellectual disabilities is extremely important in terms of ascertaining whether service providers achieve their goals. The authors provide support for the emerging view that quality of life is an outcome measure that can be utilized to assess service providers' performance. To do this they modified a performance measurement framework to illustrate how quality of life can be incorporated in a comprehensive analysis of the outcomes achieved by various stakeholders of the service provider. They then used three examples drawn from the literature (relating to employment services, the U.S. state of Nebraska, and family quality of life), to highlight how this framework could be applied. Ideas are also presented on other areas where a comprehensive stakeholder analysis, incorporating quality of life measures, could form part of a service provider's performance evaluation. The authors review some issues that should be considered in relation to the implementation of a comprehensive performance measurement system that incorporates quality of life as one of the outcome measures.
Assessment of cognitive therapy skills for people with learning disabilities
- Authors:
- DAGNAN Dave, MELLOR Karen, JEFFERSON Claire
- Journal article citation:
- Advances in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities, 3(4), December 2009, pp.25-30.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
This paper describes a clinically useful assessment approach that gives therapists information that can be used to identify the appropriate therapy. Cognitive therapy is increasingly used as a tool with people with learning disabilities. There is a growing literature examining the necessary adaptation of therapy content, however most of the literature does not consider the decision-making process of the clinician in relation to the individual client. This paper, therefore, investigates how clinicians make decisions about the adaptation of therapy for the client. Presented as a series of question/response tables, the authors describe an assessment that presents a simple scenario and associated emotion, the client being asked to say what they would think or say to themselves a given situation. The data presented suggests that some people with learning disabilities report thoughts that accurately mediate between the scenario and the stated emotion - at times these thoughts offered insight into individual concerns. The authors suggest this assessment is useful in a clinical practice, and discuss ways in which it might be useful to guide choice of intervention.
It's your life: take control: the implementation of self-directed support in Hertfordshire
- Authors:
- EDWARDS Tony, WATERS John
- Publisher:
- In Control
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 19p.
- Place of publication:
- Wythall
This publication begins by providing an overview of the principles of self-directed support and its seven main steps. It then explains how Hertfordshire introduced the self-directed support programme into their learning disability services, and developed a resource allocation system and needs assessment questionnaire. Four case studies are then provided to illustrate how self-directed support is making a difference to peoples' lives. Finally, the results of an evaluation of the service which looked at the support plans of 47 men and 19 men with a learning disability are presented.