Background: There has been significant focus in the past decade on reducing admissions to assessment and treatment units for people with intellectual disabilities experiencing mental health or behavioural concerns. This has included the development of intensive support functions of National Health Service Learning Disability services to bolster…

Background: The STOMP agenda (Stopping Over-Medication of People with learning disabilities, autism, or both) drew focus to individuals with a diagnosis of a learning disability being prescribed psychotropic medication to manage 'behaviours that challenge'. The following study is an audit of two community learning disability services in the London…

Background: Mindfulness-informed interventions are increasingly being offered to individuals with learning disabilities. The current paper aims to reflect on the provision and effectiveness of a group intervention incorporating mindfulness-informed techniques and relaxation strategies. Method: Nine group attendees with mild learning disabilities…

Introduction: Adults with complex needs and severe learning disability present as a serious management problem within the community. Restrictive interventions are often used to manage adults with these issues, even though best practice recommends the use of positive behaviour support. Positive behaviour support involves functional analysis, but it…

Background: The use of psychotropic medication to manage challenging behaviours of people with intellectual disabilities is a contentious issue which NHS England has now focused on. This paper looks to evaluate this within the multidisciplinary context. Method: Records of clients (n = 106) open to a Community Intellectual Disabilities team for…

Background: The issues surrounding the prescribing and monitoring of medications for people with learning disabilities and behaviours deemed to be challenging, and are complex in their management for patients, healthcare professionals and carers. The aim of the study was to explore the impact of the pharmacist independent prescriber on a…

Background: Sleep hygiene education (SHE) is a familiar intervention for addressing behavioural sleep problems in children with developmental disabilities that involves advising parents on sleep-promoting behaviours; however, it is supported by a limited evidence base. Materials and methods: This exploratory study aimed to enhance qualitative…

Background: There is a growing evidence base about the effectiveness of positive behavioural support (PBS) in relation to behaviours that challenge (CB). There is, however, limited research from the perspective of individuals receiving this support. The objective of this qualitative study was to obtain the views of participants with an…

Background: There is relatively little published data that report the experiences and views of family carers of people with intellectual disabilities who display challenging behaviour who are prescribed psychotropic medication. Materials and methods: An online structured questionnaire was created by the Challenging Behaviour Foundation, a UK…

Background: Intellectual disability (ID) is associated with polypharmacy particularly off-label psychotropics for "challenging behaviour." NHS England introduced the "stopping over medication of people with a learning disability (LD), autism or both" (STOMP) initiative. As ID services are a professionally diverse group, it is…

Background: We describe current care arrangements in England for children, young people and adults with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges, and estimate their comparative costs. Materials and Methods: A two-round Delphi exercise was performed in March and April 2014, followed by a costing exercise. Results: The study finds a mixed…

Background: This study investigated whether care staff's causal attributions and emotional reactions to the challenging behaviour displayed by service users were influenced by the service user's diagnostic label. Materials and Method: One hundred and twenty care staff were randomly allocated to one of three conditions. Participants viewed a video…

Background: Network Training is an intervention that draws upon systemic ideas and behavioural principles to promote positive change in networks of support for people defined as having a learning disability. To date, there are no published case studies looking at the outcomes of Network Training. Materials and Methods: This study aimed to…

Background: Recent government policy has focused on reducing the number of people with a learning disability receiving treatment for challenging behaviour or mental health difficulties in hospitals (including in assessment and treatment units; ATU). People with a learning disability should be supported to remain in their community when receiving…

Background: In this article, we describe our study of the prevalence of behaviour that challenges and which internal factors are related to behaviour that challenges in 21 people (fourteen are male, seven are female, varying in age from 12.4 to 42 years; mean 26.6, SD 7.27) with intellectual disabilities who have hearing impairments. Materials and…