Suchergebnisse

Background  Burnout has been highlighted as a significant problem for workers in the intellectual disabilities field. A growing number of studies have investigated the levels of burnout and its correlates amongst this population, although they have often reported somewhat contradictory findings.Materials and methods  The present paper sought to systematically review the literature describing the levels and correlates of burnout amongst direct care workers of adults with intellectual disabilities.Results  Meta‐analytic comparisons suggested that the levels of burnout are somewhat lowered in this population compared with normative samples and that there appeared to be a trend of burnout rates decreasing steadily over the past 20 years.Discussion  Burnout appears to represent a useful construct for measuring the distress of workers supporting adults with intellectual disabilities. Gaps and inconsistencies were highlighted in the research literature and future research directions discussed.

ObjectivesThe use of pharmacological interventions to manage challenging behaviour displayed by adults with intellectual disabilities remains controversial, with current clinical guidelines in the United Kingdom advocating the use of less invasive psychological interventions. This exploratory study aimed to discover what views and beliefs are held by a sample of NHS professionals who provided care and treatment to adults with learning disabilities, about the factors that are influential in the clinical decision‐making process, surrounding the prescription of psychotropic medication, to manage challenging behaviour.MethodsQ methodology was used to elucidate the factors considered influential in the clinical decision‐making process, surrounding the prescription of medication to manage challenging behaviour. 55 participants from a range of services across the north–west of England performed a 104 statement Q‐sort task.ResultsPrinciple component factor analysis with varimax rotation was performed on the 55 completed Q sorts. This revealed a four factor solution, accounting for 44% of the variance in the data. The factors were interpreted and discussed under the following headings: 'High‐quality safe ethical practice', Risk is a rationale for reactive prescribing', 'Pragmatic management' and 'Contextual issues'.ConclusionsThe study demonstrated that Q methodology is a useful tool for identifying subjective viewpoints held by a range of professionals, with regard to the factors that influence the clinical decision‐making process surrounding the prescription of medication. The study suggests that services need to identify the wider contextual factors, which are barriers, to the use of less invasive psychological interventions.