Supporting people with an intellectual disability and dementia: A constructivist grounded theory study exploring care providers' views and experiences in the UK.

Background: There is a need to better understand the experiences and support needs of paid and family carers of people with an intellectual disability and dementia, and the role of Intellectual Disability Dementia Care Pathways (IDDCPs). This study explored the experiences of carers, and IDDCPs and other support structures within those experiences.

Methods: A constructivist grounded theory methodology was implemented.

Experiences of user involvement in mental health settings: User motivations and benefits.

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: User involvement, when people who have accessed services become actively involved in aspects of mental health care, can sometimes be "tokenistic" and not well thought through. Users are often involved in their own care, and asked for feedback, but are less likely to be meaningfully involved in developing services and training staff. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: To implement meaningful involvement, it is important to know why some users choose to devote time to such activities.

Tolerating Uncertainty: Perceptions of the Future for Ageing Parent Carers and Their Adult Children with Intellectual Disabilities.

Background: Improved life expectancy means that more adults with intellectual disabilities are now living with ageing parents. This study explored older families' perceptions of the future.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine older parents and three adults with intellectual disabilities and analysed to produce an explanatory thematic framework.

Examining experiences of transition, instability and coping for young offenders in the community: A qualitative analysis.

This article explores experiences of transition, instability and coping using a qualitative approach with young offenders within a specialist forensic child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS). Participants were four young people (aged 14-17 years) on community orders under the supervision of local youth offending teams (YOTs). Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data analysed using an inductive thematic analysis approach.

The education and training needs of learning disability staff in relation to mental health issues.

Evidence suggests that people with a learning disability experience mental health problems, and thus many health and social care workers in the field of learning disabilities will come into regular contact with clients with such complex needs. Despite this, many care workers remain unsure about how to recognise or respond to service users' mental health problems. The primary aim of this study was to explore and identify the current level of knowledge, skill and confidence of learning disability care staff in responding to the mental health needs of the users of their services, in order to be able, subsequently, to design and deliver appropriate educational programmes.

Interprofessional education and working in mental health: in search of the evidence base.

Aim: To explore interprofessional attitudes arising from shared learning in mental health.

Background: Inter-professional education in healthcare is a priority area for improving team-working and communication. Many studies have attempted to evaluate its benefits and challenges, although few emanate from the mental health arena.

Helping student nurses to identify and respond to the psychological needs of physically ill patients: implications for curriculum design.

It is universally accepted that nursing practice is predicated upon the notion of holistic care, in that nurses need to address not only the physical needs of ill patients but also their psychological, social, spiritual, and environmental needs. However, there is considerable evidence to suggest that nurses often inadequately identify and respond to patients' psychological needs, sometimes with adverse consequences for physical health and recovery. This may be because they do not fully understand the concept of psychological care, or have been inadequately prepared or educated to deliver it in practice.

Making the most of opportunities.

When asked to contribute to the Making My Mark series, my immediate response was to agree. Once I had done so, I began to wonder what sort of mark I have actually made. For inspiration, I looked back at previous papers in the series, to establish where, in the grand scheme of things, my contribution to nursing and healthcare research might lie.