Overview
The health care of people with learning disabilities has in recent years moved increasingly towards a primary concern for mental wellbeing. This is apparent in both the statutory and independent health care sectors whilst the more traditional care of those with high-dependency physical needs has been transferred into the social, private, and independent care sectors. As a result, those practitioners now working in health care for people with learning disabilities have a new focus in relation to their professional development needs, both in terms of their knowledge in relation to mental health, its legislation, and their capacity to work within the quality frameworks that support care.
The psychiatry of learning disability is a complex field where classifications of mental illness can be masked by limited cognition, limited speech, and learned behaviours as examples as a result of a learning disability. Therapeutic and pharmaceutical interventions can therefore be challenging to implement and assess progress if a thorough grounding in professional knowledge is not available. Second to this are the issues of quality standards outlined in the National Service Framework for Mental Health and by the Care Quality Commission: How these standards are implemented and made evident in relation to Care Programme Approach documents is of significant importance to organizations across the whole learning disability healthcare sector.
Content and Modules
Level 5 (Undergraduate)
Pre-requisites: Practitioner in the field of learning disability
Excluded Combinations: This module cannot be studied again at a different academic level
Aims
This module aims to:
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Explore the range of mental health disorders prevalent in the general population and their statistics in the learning disabled population.
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Examine the ways in which services respond to the NSF and CQC standards.
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Identify key mental health risk factors that impact on service delivery.
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Enable reflection on the relationship between quality standards and care delivery.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module the practitioner will be able to:
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Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the ways in which mental illness can be presented in people with learning disabilities.
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Analyse and use a range of research and expert opinion to inform and enhance practice in relation to people with mental illness and learning disability.
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Have an informed understanding of risk factors in providing care for those with learning disability and severe mental ill-health.
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Demonstrate an ability to evidence quality standards in relation to the care programme approach planning.
Summative Assessment
Assignment (100% weighting)
The student will provide a critique of the enhanced Care Programme Approach process in practice and provide ways in which this could be further developed through the explicit inclusion of quality standards and current legislation.
The critique must be evidence based and include analysis of the current models of practice. It should also demonstrate an awareness of interprofessional and interagency working. Word limit: 4000 words.
Level 6 (Undergraduate)
Pre-requisites: Practitioner in the field of learning disability
Excluded Combinations: This module cannot be studied again at a different academic level
Aims
This module aims to:
-
Explore the range of mental health disorders prevalent in the general population and their statistics in the learning disabled population.
-
Examine the ways in which services respond to the NSF and CQC standards.
-
Identify key mental health risk factors that impact on service delivery.
-
Enable reflection on the relationship between quality standards and care delivery.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module the practitioner will:
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Have gained a fuller understanding of the ways in which mental illness canbe presented in people with learning disabilites.
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Be able to critically analyse a wide range of research and expert opinion to inform and enhance practice in relation to people with mental illmess and learning disability.
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Have a critically informed understanding of risk factors in providing care for those with learning disability and severe mental ill-health.
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Be able to identify and critically analyse quality standards in the care programme approach.
Summative Assessment
Assignment (100% weighting)
The student will provide a critique of the Care Programme Approach process in practice and provide ways in which this could be further developed through the explicit inclusion of quality standards and legislation.
The critique must be evidence based and include critical analysis of the current models of practice. It should also demonstrate an awareness of interprofessional and interagency working. Word limit: 3500 words.
Level 7 (Postgraduate)
Pre-requisites: Practitioner in the field of learning disability
Excluded Combinations: A student who has studied this module at level 6, may not study the same module at level 7.
Aims
This module aims to:
-
Explore the range of mental health disorders prevalent in the general population and their statistics in the learning disabled population.
-
Examine the ways in which services respond to the NSF and CQC standards.
-
Identify key mental health risk factors that impact on service delivery.
-
Enable reflection on the relationship between quality standards and care delivery.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module the practitioner will be able to:
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Evaluate ways in which mental illness can be presented in people with learning disabilities.
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Critically appraise a wide range of research and expert opinion to inform and enhance practice in relation to people with mental illness and learning disability.
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Critically evaluate the risk factors in providing care for those with learning disability and severe mental ill-health.
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Evidence rigour in using quality standards in relation to the care programme approach.
Summative Assessment
Assignment (100% weighting)
The student will make a 20 minute presentation and 15 minutes professional dialogue which will provide a critique of the Care Programme Approach process in practice and provide ways in which this could be further developed through the explicit inclusion of quality standards and legislation.
The critique must be evidence based and include critical evaluation and synthesis of the current models of practice. It should also demonstrate an awareness of interprofessional and interagency working. Word limit equivalent: 3500 Words.