Paul Swift

Longitudinal analysis of the impact and cost of person-centered planning for people with intellectual disabilities in England.

Person-centered planning is central to United Kingdom policies regarding the support of people with intellectual disabilities. However, little evidence exists on the impact or cost of introducing person-centered planning. We examined the efficacy, effectiveness, and costs of introducing person-centered planning for 93 people with intellectual disabilities over 2 years across four localities in England. A person-centered plan was successfully developed for 65 people. Little change was apparent prior to introducing person-centered planning. After its introduction, modest positive changes were found in the areas of social networks; contact with family; contact with friends; community-based activities; scheduled day activities; and choice. The direct training and support cost of introducing person-centered planning was

The health of people with autistic spectrum disorders

1,202 per participant; indirect costs were negligible.

Implementing direct payments for people with a learning disability

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarise what is known about the health of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Design/methodology/approach – The paper aims to update the unpublished review and scoping paper undertaken by Swift for the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities; provide a conceptual framework for understanding the key determinants of the poorer health outcomes experienced by people with ASD; undertake a brief option appraisal of existing sources of data that may be of value in addressing the mortality and morbidity of people with ASD; and establish future research possibilities.Findings – The limited literature suggests higher rates of mortality and morbidity among people with ASD.Originality/value – A simple conceptual framework for understanding the key determinants of poorer health of people with ASD is proposed. Options for studying the mortality and morbidity in ASD using existing data sources are also appraised and recommendations are made for future research ...

Person-centred planning : factors associated with successful outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities.

The article reports on research on the variable take‐up of direct payments. Direct payments offer huge potential for people with learning disabilities, but implementation has been patchy. Care managers are crucial to getting more people on to direct payments, but many feel ill‐equipped to help people take advantage of direct payments, and also doubt their usefulness, either to their clients or to the development of services. Creative solutions, such as an active peer‐support group and using circles of support or trusts, coupled with user‐friendly systems backed up with training and managerial support, can result in greater take‐up and more success stories.