Commentary on “The experiences of Covid-19 ‘lockdown’ for people with a learning disability: results from surveys in Jersey and Guernsey”

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma Rogers

Purpose This paper aims to consider the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown restrictions. Design/methodology/approach This commentary reflects on the issues raised by Morris et al., and in the wider literature. Findings Although there have been some benefits to lockdown for people with intellectual disabilities, mainly they have experienced isolation, increased mental health and well-being challenges, difficulty in accessing services, support and adequate adapted information. Originality/value This commentary argues that it is important to continue to capture the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities now and over time to assess the long-term consequences of the pandemic and to design services which are respondent to their needs.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Valeix ◽  
Rachel Moss ◽  
Charotte Morris

Purpose This paper aims to present the critical reflections of three women implementers formerly working in projects that seek to support the mental health and well-being (MHW) of postgraduate researchers (PGRs), which has become a recent focus for UK researchers and policymakers. The paper offers an experience-based perspective on tensions in PGR-MHW project implementation by providing personal accounts of several social dilemmas the authors encountered. From reflecting on experiences, the authors derived recommendations for mitigating such dilemmas when designing and delivering future projects. Design/methodology/approach First, the experiences of dilemmas as female project implementers of PGR-MHW projects were recalled, listed and discussed and identified broad overarching themes. Second, one dilemma for each of the three themes was fleshed out according to the ones that carried meaning for how the role was personally experienced. Third, what the accounts of dilemmas meant for project implementation and outcomes was analyzed. Then the findings to existing literature where similar tensions were identified were linked, including how these could be mitigated. Findings The dilemmas experienced as implementers in PGR-MHW projects fit among three interconnected themes: identity, values, and motivations and relationships. It was showed that, although they may be hard to see, the dilemmas presented in this paper impede project’s success, outcomes for PGRs and implementers’ well-being. Mitigating such dilemmas when designing, funding, implementing and evaluating future projects is not straightforward, and the findings in this article open avenues to tackle this problem. Originality/value Focusing on reflections of female implementers, the paper provides an original perspective on PGR-MHW project evaluation. Using reflective writing as a research tool allowed us to identify overlooked dilemmas in project implementation. Honest and critical accounts of implementers’ experiences revealed important lessons such as different framings of project success, the intersection between the personal and the professional and individual responsibilities in project networks.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 127-136
Author(s):  
Fergus Douds ◽  
Fabian Haut

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the evolution of legislation relevant to people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) since the Scottish Parliament came into being in 1999; this will be particularly relevant to practitioners working with people with IDs within mental health and forensic mental health services. Design/methodology/approach – A descriptive review of the relevant legislation, setting this out in the chronological order in which the legislation was enacted. Findings – The paper demonstrates that legislative reform is a dynamic and evolving process, responsive to social, political and legal agendas. Research limitations/implications – The paper is limited to a description of the relevant legislation in only one part of the UK (Scotland). Practical implications – A helpful summary of the relevant legislation is provided which should be of particular value to readers/practitioners from outwith Scotland. Originality/value – The paper provides an up to date account of the legislative reform in Scotland during the period 1999-2015.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 56-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Dilks-Hopper ◽  
Chloe Jacobs ◽  
Catherine Sholl ◽  
Caroline Falconer ◽  
Nick Gore

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an update on the Ealing Intensive Therapeutic and Short Breaks Service (ITSBS). Design/methodology/approach The challenges the service has faced are reviewed, including the service’s response to those challenges. Also provided is a more detailed analysis of the outcomes of the service. Findings The ITSBS continues to succeed in supporting young people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour to stay at home with their families. Originality/value Despite considerable challenges and adaptations to the model, the ITSBS is still achieving successful outcomes for vulnerable young people and is considered nationally to be a best-practice model. Few prior articles have provided an account of how innovative service models are maintained and evolve over time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-348
Author(s):  
Sevasti-Melissa Nolas ◽  
Charles Watters ◽  
Keira Pratt-Boyden ◽  
Reima Ana Maglajlic

Purpose This review and theoretical analysis paper aims to bring together literatures of place, mobility, refugees and mental health to problematise the ways in which social support is practised on the ground and to rethink its possibilities. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on an interdisciplinary understanding of social support that focusses on the social networks and significant and intimate relationships that mitigate negative mental health and well-being outcomes. The authors explore the dialectic relationship between place and mobility in refugee experiences of social support. Findings The authors argue that, in an Euro-American context, practices of social support have historically been predicated on the idea of people-in-place. The figure of the refugee challenges the notion of a settled person in need of support and suggests that people are both in place and in motion at the same time. Conversely, attending to refugees’ biographies, lived experiences and everyday lives suggests that places and encounters of social support are varied and go beyond institutional spaces. Research limitations/implications The authors explore this dialectic of personhood as both in place and in motion and its implications for the theorisation, research and design of systems of social support for refugees. Originality/value This paper surfaces the dialectics of place and mobility for supporting refugee mental health from an interdisciplinary perspective.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-108
Author(s):  
Joann Kiernan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on issues raised in the paper “A family’s battle to understand ‘challenging behaviour’”. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on literature associated with issues identified in the paper this commentary will reflect on the evidence associated with providing specialist support to people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour. Findings Families, individuals and services are unable to access timely and appropriate specialist support for individuals with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour. As individuals go on to develop behaviours associated with a lack of intervention their levels of vulnerability increase due to their exclusion from services and their local communities. Originality/value The commentary provides a discussion on the issues faced by individuals and their families in relation to intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Sergius Koku ◽  
Hannah Emma Acquaye

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the mental state and the disposition of those who have fallen on hard times during the recent financial crisis and have had their homes foreclosed on or their automobiles repossessed. It also proposes an alternative process for dispossessing individuals that preserves the mental health of such individuals and the banks’ reputation. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the hermeneutics approach to analyze the predicament of those whose homes have been foreclosed on or whose properties have been repossessed by financial institutions to better understand their predicament. Findings Those whose homes have been foreclosed on or whose properties have been repossessed by financial institutions are traumatized. They feel victimized, bitter, helpless and hopeless and have poor mental state. The study draws on theories in counseling psychology to propose an alternative approach to making loans that take long time to be repaid (long-term loans), and for repossessing personal properties such as automobiles and for foreclosing on real property (homes). Research limitations/implications As a qualitative study based on a small sample, the findings of the study are limited to only those who have been studied. A further study that leads to a generalized result will be useful. Practical implications The study develops a practical framework that could be useful to financial institutions in making long-term loans and to foreclose on delinquent loans (i.e. to dispossess individuals). Social implications The proposed strategy, if implemented, could have a significant positive impact on the mental well-being of those who have fallen on financial hard times. Originality/value To the best of the knowledge, this is the first marketing paper that has explored the mental health of those who have defaulted on loans, and has proposed an alternative approach to making long-term loans that not only preserves the mental health of banks’ customers, but also protects the reputation and market share of banks.


2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sian Lockwood

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore the potential of micro‐enterprises to assist local health and well‐being boards in delivering their strategies, especially in relation to tackling health inequalities, prevention and community support.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on experience gained by Community Catalysts from its work supporting social care and health micro‐enterprise across the UK. There has been little formal research into social care and health micro‐enterprise and so the paper relies heavily on data gathered by Community Catalysts in the course of its work and uses local case studies to illustrate points.FindingsThe paper explains the importance of social care and health micro‐enterprise to the work of health and well being boards, emphasising its potential to help tackle health inequalities and contribute to effective health and well‐being strategies.Originality/valueThere are no examples as yet of imaginative health and well‐being boards engaging effectively with micro‐providers, but boards can draw on learning from local authorities actively stimulating and supporting local micro‐enterprise.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Meier ◽  
Leonard Reinecke

Do social media affect users’ mental health and well-being? By now, considerable research has addressed this highly contested question. Prior studies have investigated the effects of social media use on hedonic well-being (e.g., affect and life satisfaction), psychopathology (e.g., depressive or anxiety symptoms), or psychosocial risk/resilience factors (e.g., loneliness, stress, self-esteem). Yet, public concern over social media effects often centers on more long-term negative outcomes, which may be better captured by indicators of eudaimonic well-being. Indeed, neglecting the eudaimonic side of well-being may have introduced outcome omission bias, since eudaimonia is both conceptually and empirically distinct from other dimensions of mental health and may be uniquely affected by social media use. Specifically, psychology currently theorizes eudaimonic well-being to be best represented by the experiences of (a) meaningfulness, (b) authenticity, and (c) self-actualization. A research synthesis of how social media use relates to these core indicators of eudaimonia is currently missing, however. We thus present a first narrative review that synthesizes both theoretical and empirical links between three key social media uses (i.e., active, passive, and “screen time”) and eudaimonic well-being. The synthesis shows that while there are indeed several plausible theoretical links, the evidence is too scarce and inconsistent to allow definitive conclusions at this time. We instead give recommendations for how the field can close important gaps by investigating whether social media afford or constrain opportunities to find meaning, live authentically, and grow as a person.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose White ◽  
Katherine Lister ◽  
Kristian Northend ◽  
Stephen Moore ◽  
Kelly Rayner

Purpose People with intellectual disabilities (ID) can be vulnerable to developing mental health problems. It has been found that participating in regular exercise can help to improve emotional well-being, both in typically developing people and those with ID. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of community clients with ID who have engaged in a football training programme, and the perceived impacts on attitudes, mood and behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Interviews with seven patients from generic or forensic community ID services were conducted. The transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings Two master themes were identified from the interviews, “Striving” and “Togetherness”. Originality/value The most important factors related to taking part in the football programme were the social, emotional and personal growth associated with being part of a team and general enjoyment of being part of something. Although aspects of football knowledge and physical fitness were still evident, their impact seemed to be less significant. The experience of football was overwhelmingly positive.


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