Adults with learning disabilities known to local authorities in Scotland: a national dataset

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-23
Author(s):  
Claire Stuart ◽  
Andrew McKeown ◽  
Angela Henderson ◽  
Chloe Trew
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Learning Disability ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Analytical Potential ◽  
Adults With Learning Disabilities

Purpose – Learning Disability Statistics Scotland collects information on adults with learning disabilities who are known to local authorities in Scotland and the services they use. The data collection supports national and local government policy making and is focused on monitoring the implementation of learning disability policy. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Individual level data are requested from all 32 local authorities on adults aged 16-17 who are not in full-time education and those aged 18 and over. Annual data guidance is developed in conjunction with local authorities prior to the collection and is issued to standardise the process and manage avoidable error. The collated data are extracted from local authority administrative data and records are provided on each adult regardless of whether they are currently receiving a service. Anonymisation takes place prior to upload and strict guidelines are followed to ensure it is not possible to identify individuals. Findings – The paper provides insights to the project's processes, uses, challenges and future plans. It details the position of the data outputs within a policy context and the role these might play within a broader research agenda. Research limitations/implications – This data includes only adults known to local authority services. Originality/value – The value of the project lies in its strength as a national social care data set comprised of individual level data. This methodology increases the analytical potential of the data set. This paper will be of interest to those interested in data on learning disability and those with an interest in the analytical potential of an individual level national data set.

scholarly journals Deprivation of liberty applications concerning people with learning disabilities in England: trends over time and geographical variation

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Hatton
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Geographical Variation ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Level Statistics ◽  
Adults With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Trends Over Time ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse trends over time and geographical variation in Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications for adults with learning disabilities. Design/methodology/approach Secondary analysis of national- and local authority-level statistics collected and reported by NHS Digital. Findings There has been a sharp national increase in the number of completed and granted DoLS applications regarding adults with learning disabilities since the 2014 “Cheshire West” Supreme Court judgement, with a greater proportion of completed DoLS applications being granted. There is extreme geographical variation across local authorities in England in the rates at which DoLS applications are being made and granted. Practical implications The extreme variation in DoLS applications regarding adults with learning disabilities is highly unlikely to be a function of differences in mental capacity and living circumstances experienced by adults with learning disabilities across local authorities, and urgent attention needs to be paid to this variation. Originality/value This is the first paper to analyse the geographical variation at local authority level for completed and granted DoLS applications regarding adults with learning disabilities.

First-hand experience of accessible information

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Mander
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Primary Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
Accessible Information ◽  
Service Staff ◽  
Adults With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Framework Approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on primary research which investigated the first-hand experience of producing and implementing accessible information (AI). Design/methodology/approach – In total, 18 participants were recruited for a qualitative scoping exercise from four distinct sampling groups: adults with learning disabilities; specialist learning disability service staff; mainstream NHS and local authority staff; and speech and language therapists. Each participant took part in a semi-structured focus group or interview which explored their range of skills, knowledge and attitudes relating to AI. Findings – Framework approach to thematic analysis led to three main classifications: ideology of AI, AI practice and the outcomes of delivering AI. First-hand experience varied across the stakeholders, highlighting differences in the operationalisation of national policies and legislation. Originality/value – The data supported the notion of AI as a multifaceted process; although the practice of delivering accessible resources appeared less advanced than accessible resource production.

What do Joint Strategic Needs Assessments tell us about people with learning disabilities in England?

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-96
Author(s):  
Susannah Baines ◽  
Chris Hatton
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Service Usage ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Needs Assessments ◽  
Adults With Learning Disabilities

Purpose – Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) are required for every local authority in England, and should contain information to allow for strategic health and wellbeing planning for the local population, including disabled people. A 2013 analysis of JSNAs showed that JSNAs were not routinely including information on the numbers and health needs of people with learning disabilities, particularly children. The purpose of this paper is to compare the information included in 2013 and 2014 JSNAs. Design/methodology/approach – JSNAs for 141 local authorities in England were sought. Local authorities were contacted when JSNAs were not initially found online. All 137 JSNAs found were analysed for mentions and specific sections concerning people with learning disabilities, and content analysed concerning the specific information they contained. Findings – In total, 72 per cent of JSNAs mentioned people with learning disabilities (vs 82 per cent in 2013); 24 per cent mentioned children (vs 39 per cent in 2013) and 72 per cent mentioned adults (vs 81 per cent in 2013). Overall, 13 per cent of JSNAs included a section on children with learning disabilities (vs 9 per cent in 2013), 65 per cent included a section on adults (vs 48 per cent in 2013) and 11 per cent included a section on older adults (vs 8 per cent in the 2013). More JSNAs contained information on current and projected future populations, health needs, social context and service usage concerning adults with learning disabilities compared to children. There was large regional variation in all these indicators. Originality/value – Further work is needed for JSNAs to contain sufficient information on people with learning disabilities to allow for strategic planning, and for JSNAs to be accessible to the public.

Commentary on “Older carers of people with learning disabilities: their experiences with local authority assessment processes and personnel”

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Gant
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Family Context ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Needs Assessments ◽  
The Past ◽  
Adults With Learning Disabilities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on “Older carers of people with learning disabilities: their experiences with local authority assessment processes and personnel” written by Rachel Forrester-Jones. Design/methodology/approach This commentary considers the experiences of older carers in the context of research, legislative and policy changes over the past 30+ years. Findings The needs of older carers of adults with learning disabilities are well recognised within the (limited) literature. Less attention has been given to practical strategies to identify and support such carers or to their broader family context. Originality/value This commentary highlights that assessors carrying out carers’ needs assessments should consider whether adults with learning disabilities are providing care to their older relative. The recognition of possible mutual or reciprocal care needs to be acknowledged and appropriate support offered.

Ordinary lives means ordinary schools: towards a unitary 0-99 years policy for adults and children with learning disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-46
Author(s):  
Christopher Goodey
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Learning Disability ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Learning Disabled ◽  
General Sense ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Adults With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Adult Lives

Purpose This paper aims to look forward to the next generation of policymaking on learning disability and recommends a unitary strategy covering all phases of life including childhood. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the author addresses the policy gap between inclusion in ordinary (“mainstream”) schools and inclusion in ordinary adult life. The author asks why what has been accepted, at least in principle, for the adult two-thirds of the learning disabled population is still contested for the other, younger third. In the following sections, the author summarises the present discrepancy, compares the rights of children in general with those of people with learning disabilities and outlines the rationale for a 0-99 years focus in research and practice on learning disability, and for future government strategy to establish a 0-99 policy. Findings It is in the broad context of a unitary 0-99 years approach that policymaking must in future be addressed. The education of children is key to the success of their adult lives, and makes the policy of educating them together in ordinary schools (i.e. giving them from the start the “ordinary lives” that are the main goal of adult policy) an imperative. Originality/value The need to consider children’s rights in a general sense has not previously been applied to the field of policymaking for adults with learning disabilities.

Commentary on “Specialist community teams for adults with learning disabilities: referrals to a countywide service in England”

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-55
Author(s):  
Lawrence Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Learning Disability ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
National Service ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Processing Demands ◽  
Adults With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
The Way

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on the paper “Specialist community teams for adults with learning disabilities: referrals to a countywide service in England” by Isabel Clare and colleagues.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reviews some themes presented in this paper relating to the practice and management of community teams for adults with learning disability within the context of recent national service initiatives.FindingsThere is a limited literature on the practice, purpose and service caseload management of community teams. Taken in the context of recent national service initiatives, the paper by Clareet al.illustrates the gaps between the way community teams are currently processing demands and how these services will likely need to behave in future.Originality/valueThere is little recent literature examining the purpose of, and management approaches in, community teams and this addition should stimulate some further consideration of how community teams need to adjust to meet changing demands.

Narrative therapy in a learning disability context: a review

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
James McParland
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Learning Disability ◽  
Outcome Measures ◽  
Narrative Therapy ◽  
Disability Services ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Adults With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Therapy Interventions

Purpose – Narrative therapy is aligned with government priorities for learning disabilities as it promotes inclusion and seeks to empower. While research on narrative therapy in learning disability services is emerging, it has not been critically evaluated. The purpose of this paper is to identify, summarise and critique the extant literature that has explored narrative therapy for adults with learning disabilities, and consider the implications for research and clinical practice. Design/methodology/approach – A literature search identified seven relevant case studies that described individual narrative therapy interventions for adults with learning disabilities. A qualitative review of these studies was carried out. Findings – Overall, the reviewed studies offer tentative evidence for the short-term usefulness of narrative therapy for difficulties with anger and qualitative benefits for ritualistic behaviour, social anxiety and stealing behaviour. Research limitations/implications – A number of methodological issues are identified, particularly concerning the use of outcome measures and the generalisability of findings. The research is limited due to a reliance on case study evidence and outcome measures that lack validity and reliability. Both larger scale and more robust research, and high quality practice-based evidence, are required. Practical implications – Learning disability services could consider providing narrative therapy for people with learning disabilities experiencing anger problems and other psychological difficulties. Clinical practice suggestions are identified, such as choosing relevant metaphors and including the individual’s wider system. Originality/value – This paper provides an up-to-date, comprehensive review of the literature on narrative therapy for people with learning disabilities that will be of use to clinicians providing therapeutic support and to people commissioning such services.

Pre-training competencies and the productivity of apprentices

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anika Jansen ◽  
Harald Ulrich Pfeifer
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Training Costs ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Firm Level Data

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between pre-training competencies of apprentices and their productivity at the workplace. Design/methodology/approach For the analysis, the authors use firm-level data on apprentices’ oral and writing competencies and competencies in basic mathematics, information technology and problem solving. The authors regress the apprentices’ productivity on these school competencies and include a number of firm and apprentice-specific control variables. By reducing the authors’ data set to firms that only have one apprentice the authors transform the firm-level data into quasi individual-level data. Findings The main findings are that not all competencies are equally related to productivity. Problem-solving competencies followed by oral and writing competencies show the strongest relation to the productive potential of apprentices. IT competencies are also positively but weakly related to the apprentices’ productivity. In contrast, higher levels of basic mathematical competencies leave productivity levels largely unchanged. Differentiating between occupational groups, the authors find that the positive relation between the competencies and productivity predominantly exists in commercial occupations rather than in industrial and technical occupations. Practical implications The results show that better school competencies are associated with a higher productivity of apprentices, which in turn lowers the firms’ training costs. From a policy perspective, this finding is important because it implies that, by improving the apprentices’ competencies, the firms’ willingness to participate in the apprenticeship system can be increased. Moreover, the results are important for training firms because they show on which competencies firms should focus in their recruitment decision. Originality/value The paper studies for the first time the relation between pre-training competencies and productivity of apprentices at the working place. A practical implication from the authors’ analysis is that it could be useful to implement tools measuring the problem solving and oral and writing competencies of apprenticeship applicants in the process of recruitment.

A “catch-22”: self-inflicted failure of GCC nationalization policies

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usamah F. Alfarhan ◽  
Samir Al-Busaidi
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Bias ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Future Market ◽  
Quota System ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Earnings Differentials ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Price Distortions

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain prevalent earnings differentials in Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC’s) private sectors between skilled local and migrant labor and provide estimates of potential price distortions to underlie future market-based corrective policies that increase participation of locals in private employment.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses an individual-level data set on workers’ earnings and productivity-related characteristics to decompose estimated earnings differentials at the mean level and at various percentiles of the earnings distribution via well-established decomposition approaches.FindingsResults show that the real earnings differential between locals and Asians decreases at higher earnings, while that between locals and non-GCC Arabs are relatively stable. Both are characterized by overpayment of locals, that is, self-inflicted by current nationalization policies. Higher earnings of Westerners are due to their superior productivity-related characteristics.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the lack of official individual-level data on workers’ productivity-related characteristics, this paper is compelled to utilize an open-source primary data set. Despite the data set’s ability to reproduce officially published aggregates and produce sound econometric results, findings are not entirely proof against sampling bias.Practical implicationsThe paper demonstrates that the failure of GCC’s nationalization policies is self-inflicted by the current quota system and by the lack of legislative frameworks that ensure equal pay for equal work. Effective nationalization ought to be market based, rather than by fiat.Originality/valueThe paper is the first to analyze GCC’s private earnings differentials at the individual level and provides micro-econometric evidence on existing price distortions.

Perceptual versus institutional determinants of entrepreneurial entry

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-346
Author(s):  
Amirmahmood Amini Sedeh ◽  
Joseph Beck ◽  
Mahdi Forghani Bajestani
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Entrepreneurial Entry ◽  
Institutional Determinants ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Cross National ◽  
Commercial Entrepreneurship

PurposeThis cross-national study of entrepreneurship seeks to investigate the perceptual and institutional determinants of entrepreneurial entry. To do so, the authors distinguish between social and commercial entrepreneurial activities, taking the position that the concept of entrepreneurship is not a monolithic one.Design/methodology/approachThe authors construct a large cross-national data set and employ hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to run a multi-level analysis on individual-level data from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and country-level data from Polity IV and GLOBE, representing 47 countries.FindingsIndividuals' perceptual characteristics (i.e. perceived self-efficacy, opportunity perception, and fear of failure) and informal institutions in the form of supportive cultures impact social entrepreneurship more strongly than commercial entrepreneurship. On the other hand, the formal institution of the rule of law, specifically the protection of property rights, is more conducive to commercial entrepreneurship.Originality/valueThe results of this study contribute to theory by illuminating the complicated relationships between environmental conditions, individual-level psychological factors, and entrepreneurial decisions. Furthermore, the authors’ multi-level model contributes to a more detailed conceptualization of entrepreneurial entry by identifying institutional settings that facilitate commercial versus social entrepreneurship. The authors also clarify why commercial entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship attract different types of individuals.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document