George Murray

An Evaluation of the Impact of a One-Day Challenging Behaviour Course on the Knowledge of Health and Social Care Staff Working in Learning Disability Services

The present study evaluates the impact of a one-day challenging behaviour course on the knowledge of59 staff (20 health, 20 social care, 19 day care) as compared with a control group (n = 73). The study found that training led to a significant increase in knowledge in the trained group on all factors but one. This was the identification of the main factors important in responding to challenging behaviour. In relation to this, staff appeared to identify only those factors either which would clearly be within their remit or which they would be more likely to use in their daily work, e.g. health staff identifying psychological approaches, day care and residential staff identifying reactive strategies. Gains in knowledge were found to be similar in those groups followed up immediately, 3–6 months and6–12 months after training. No significant differences in scores between baseline and follow-up were found for the group who had not received training.

A systematic review of interventions to promote social support and parenting skills in parents with an intellectual disability

The family support needs of parents with an intellectual disability (ID) are relatively unknown. This paper reviewed two types of intervention for parents with ID: those designed to strengthen social relationships and those teaching parenting skills. A literature search was conducted using electronic databases and a limited number of evaluative studies were found. The evidence for interventions aimed at strengthening social relationships was inconclusive; although positive changes were observed, there were limitations in study design which restricted the generalizability of the results. The evidence for parental skills teaching suggested that behavioural based interventions are more effective than less intensive forms such as lesson booklets and the provision of normal services, although these studies also had limitations. There is a need for further large scale controlled studies in this area to provide clearer evidence and to explore additional factors relating to child, parent and family which may impact on outcomes.

The Evaluation of a Screening Tool for Children with an Intellectual Disability: The Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire.

The study outlines the evaluation of an intellectual disability screening tool, the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q), with two age groups. A number of aspects of the reliability and validity of the CAIDS-Q were assessed for these two groups, including inter-rater reliability, convergent and discriminative validity. For both age groups, a significant positive relationship was found between full scale IQ and CAIDS-Q score, indicating convergent validity. Significant differences were found in the CAIDS-Q scores between those with and without an intellectual disability, with the former group scoring significantly lower. The sensitivity and specificity of the CAIDS-Q were above 96.7% and 85.5% respectively for the younger group and 90.9% and 94.9% respectively for the older group. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed.

Staff Knowledge about Symptoms of Mental Health Problems in People with Learning Disabilities

The present study examined the knowledge of 116 health and social care staff working in learning disability services about the symptoms of mental health problems in this client group, using the Mini PAS-ADD as a comparator. Seventy-one percent of participants currently supported a client with mental health problems and learning disabilities; however, only 47 percent had received any training in this area. The health staff scored significantly higher than the residential and day care staff in relation to knowledge of symptoms for anxiety, depression and psychosis, but overall levels were low for all three groups. Those individuals who had received training in the area had significantly greater knowledge about symptoms, and higher confidence levels in supporting this client group, than those who had not. The staff also reported a range of behavioural symptoms, which were not included in the Mini PAS-ADD. Implications of the study are discussed.

An Examination of the Knowledge and Understanding of Health and Social Care Staff about the Grieving Process in Individuals with a Learning Disability

The present questionnaire based study examined the beliefs about and confidence in supporting bereaved individuals with a learning disability in health (n =35) and social care staff (n = 71). The study found that the knowledge of both health and social care staff about the grieving process in individuals with a learning disability was good, with staff recognizing the emotional and behavioural impact this could have on clients. No significant results were found in relation to knowledge about the grieving process in respect of occupational group, gender, experience of working in learning disability services or experience of supporting a client with a learning disability who had been bereaved. Significant results were found in relation to the confidence of staff in both providing support to people with a learning disability who were bereaved and in teaching people with a learning disability about death. Males, social care staff, those who had had experience of supporting a bereaved client and those who had had more experience of working in learning disability services rated themselves as significantly more confident in supporting bereaved people with a learning disability. In addition the two latter groups also rated themselves as significantly more confident in teaching individuals with a learning disability about death. The implications of the study are discussed.

An evaluation of a school counselling service with direct links to Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) services

ABSTRACT An evaluation of a Scottish secondary school-based counselling service for students aged 11 to 18 is presented. Improvement in student emotional well-being was measured using the Young Persons Clinical Outcomes for Routine Evaluation (YP CORE) questionnaire and participant questionnaires which were developed for the study. Significant improvements were found, following counselling, for functioning, problems and well-being, with all three showing a large effect size. The counselling service was rated as helpful by the majority of the participating students, referrers and guidance staff. These findings are analysed with reference to the unique structure of this school counselling service with its governance framework integrated into the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) service.

The impact of training on teacher knowledge about children with an intellectual disability

The present study examines the impact of a short training session on the knowledge of teaching staff in Scotland about children with an intellectual disability. Despite the majority of participants reporting that they had a child with an intellectual disability in their classroom, the initial level of knowledge concerning intellectual disability was low. This was partly considered to be due to terminology differences that exist between the health and education sectors and a lack of training specific to the needs of children with an intellectual disability. Training was shown to significantly improve the basic knowledge needed to understand intellectual disability immediately after training and at a 1 month follow-up, suggesting that the knowledge gains would be sustained in the longer term.

A comparison of the neuropsychological profiles of adult male sex offenders and non-offenders with a learning disability

Abstract The present study compared the neumpsychologlcal pmfiles of a group of adult male sex offenden with a laming disability (n-42) with a group of adult male non-offenders with a learning disability (n-42) using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised (1986). The groups wen matched for full-scale IQ. Thc study found that the non-offender group had significantly higher Verbal 1Q scorn than the sex offender group. No significant differences wen found for Performance IQ. The non-ofinder group was also found to have significantly hlgher scores on the Vocabulary sub-test than the sex offender group and the sex offender group was found to have significantly higher scores on the ObJecr Assembly subtest than the non-ofinder group. Finally. the sex offender group was found to have a significantly lower Verbal IQ than Performance IQ. No significant Verbal-Performance discrepancy was found for the non-offender group. Possible implications of these findings are dlscusscd.

Assessing the accuracy of the WISC-IV seven subtest short form and the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire in identifying intellectual disability in children

Little research has been conducted into the accuracy of abbreviated assessments in identifying children and young people with an intellectual disability (ID). The present study compared two such methods in a clinical population of individuals with (n = 106) and without (n = 170) ID: a 7-subtest short form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales for Children—fourth edition (WISC-IV) proposed by Crawford and colleagues and the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q). Both the CAIDS-Q and the WISC-IV short form had high and comparable levels of predicting group classification (88% and 91% correct classification, respectively). Both methods would appear to offer clinicians and researchers an efficient and accurate means of identifying those who are likely to have ID. The WISC-IV short form was slightly more accurate, but the CAIDS-Q may offer the advantages of being shorter to administer and having no requirement for the user to have a particular qualification or training.

The postnatal support needs of mothers with an intellectual disability

OBJECTIVE there is growing evidence that many parents with intellectual disabilities can parent successfully when given adequate support. This paper aims to explore the postnatal care experiences of mothers with an intellectual disability. DESIGN a qualitative design was used and data were collected using a semi-structured interview format and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. SETTING the study took place in community settings in Scotland. PARTICIPANTS six mothers with intellectual disabilities were interviewed about their experiences. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS two super-ordinate themes are discussed with accompanying subthemes: challenges of providing support and how support was delivered. KEY CONCLUSIONS the mothers valued formal postnatal care, but this was secondary to informal support. How mothers perceived the support impacted on its effectiveness and building effective relationships with professionals presented challenges. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE the study suggests the structure and quality of the wider support networks of mothers with an intellectual disability are central and should be taken account of by professionals. Providing information and advice in ways that validates the mothers role is also important, particularly as the mothers perception of how help is given can impact on the degree to which mothers engage with professionals.