Managing health changes for people with a learning disability in a residential care home setting.

Background: People with learning disability (LD) have complex comorbidities that develop at an earlier age than the general population and with which they are now living longer. Identification, assessment and management of these conditions is important but challenging.

Aim: To develop resources with care staff to enable them to recognise and manage changes and decline in the health of a person with a LD.

Improving the approach to future care planning in care homes.

Background:: There is international and national interest in the availability and provision of quality end-of-life care. In the UK this includes the promotion of advance care planning (ACP).

Aims:: To support care home staff to apply national policy on ACP in practice.

Development and implementation of the Steps to Successful Palliative Care programme in residential care homes for people with a learning disability.

Background:: For health and social care services to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population they need to respond appropriately. This response is only going to be possible if attention is paid to the individuals within it. This includes those people living with a learning disability (LD).

Family perceptions of care at the end of life in UK nursing care homes.

Background: Over a fifth of the population of developed countries die in care homes. While studies are emerging on the outcomes of care in the last few weeks of life, few report on the experience as perceived by the family members.

Methods: As part of a wider study to improve the delivery of end-of-life care, bereaved relatives of residents who had died in a care home/hospital were sent the Family Perception of Care Scale questionnaire to evaluate their experience of care provision for their relative in the last month of life.

Developing, implementing and sustaining an end-of-life care programme in residential care homes.

Background: In the UK 15.8% of people aged 85 years and over live in a care home or long-stay hospital setting. With the projection of an ageing population it is realistic to expect that the number of people both living and dying in all care homes will increase.