This literature review aimed to synthesize evidence on the prevalence and determinants of health conditions and impairments among children and young people with intellectual disability in the United Kingdom. Several databases were systematically searched for studies conducted with children under the age of 18 living in the United Kingdom and published in 2010-11. Evidence from a 2002 and a 2010 literature review on health inequalities among individuals of all ages with intellectual disability was also reviewed. We conclude there is an increased prevalence of a number of health conditions and impairments among children with intellectual disability and evidence that these health inequalities are associated with several preventable environmental determinants.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to describe the first 15 months of operation of an innovative specialist national public health observatory for intellectual disability.Design/methodology/approach -The paper provides a narrative account of aims and achievements of the service.Findings -In the first 15 months of operation the observatory has: made available to those involved in commissioning health and social care services, a wealth of information on the health needs of people with intellectual disabilities; identified specific improvements that could viably be made to increase the quality of future information; and begun working with local agencies to support them in making the best use of the available information.Originality/value -People with intellectual disabilities experience significant health inequalities. This paper describes an innovative approach to helping local agencies make the best use of available information in order to commission services that may reduce these inequalities.

What is known about this topic dSuccessive governments have been committed to providing short breaks for families with a disabled child. The benefits of short breaks for families include: reduction in carer stress; new experiences for disabled children; and carers having time with their other children. What this paper adds dA comprehensive international review of 60 articles or reports examining the impact of short breaks on families with a disabled child. Further research could address the experiences of family members beyond mothers, and examine the long-term impact of short breaks within the contexts of other family support services. AbstractThere are widespread assumptions about the potential impacts of short breaks on family carers and disabled children. This review aims to evaluate the existing international research evidence concerning the impacts of short breaks on families with a disabled child. Electronic literature searches were conducted using ASSIA, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and Web of Science, and requests for information were sent to selected email lists. Of 60 articles or reports identified for inclusion in the review, the vast majority of studies were cross-sectional, with only eight studies using quasi-experimental pre-post designs or longitudinal designs. Nonetheless, the consistency with which some findings have been reported suggests that short breaks appear to have the potential to positively impact on not only the well-being of carers, but also the children receiving short breaks and their families as a whole. Additional research is warranted in a number of areas. First, research needs to consider the impact of short breaks on fathers. Second, there is a need to consider in more depth how short breaks can impact on the siblings of disabled children. Third, research could consider how best short breaks can be combined with other interventions to maximise the impact for disabled children and their families. Fourth, research needs to look at the longer term impact of short breaks on outcomes for disabled children and their families. What is needed is evidence on what type of short breaks are best for children and families with particular characteristics at particular times during the course of the child's maturation towards adulthood.

No abstract

No abstract

Researchers, health and social care workers often seek to understand the perspectives of children; but gathering views directly from children can present difficulties. Parents are often asked to provide accounts of children's feelings or opinions on the assumption that their proxy reports are accurate and unproblematic. This qualitative thematic analysis of open‐question responses from 352 parents and 73 disabled children examines their accounts of the impact of short break services on disabled children. Participants' perspectives differed; children tended to describe immediate outcomes such as enjoying activities and participation; parents acknowledged these, but focused on longer term developmental outcomes for children.

In this article, we consider different perspectives on who is best able to provide relevant and helpful expertise in public law cases where the long-term care of children is under consideration. Opinions vary and sometimes conflict on the respective importance of legal, child development, and lay understandings. These opinions relate to views on rights, appropriate procedures, decision-making processes, and the effects of decisions on children. Firstly, we summarise literature relevant to the knowledge and skills of three key groups of decisionmakers within the Scottish child care system: legal professionals, child care professionals and lay decision-makers, and outline literature about guardians ad litem and their counterparts. We then discuss issues of expertise emerging from a study exploring the reasons for, and impact of, the appointment of safeguarders (who, in Scotland, perform a similar role to guardians). We conclude that there may be an increasing tendency for disagreement and a lack of clarity about who has the most relevant and helpful expertise to hearings; this may have negative effects for children.

'Looked after' is a term used in the UK to describe children who are the subject of 'alternative care' arrangements (i.e. in the care of a statutory authority), most often away from their birth parents. Within this potentially stigmatising context, this article presents a reanalysis of data from semi-structured interviews with 17 participants during three recent small-scale studies in Scotland. Juhila's concept of 'talking back' to potentially stigmatising categories informs this analysis that explores participants' understanding of, and responses to, three categorisations: the 'family', 'family troubles', and 'the looked-after child'. Participants were young people with experience of home supervision, birth mothers of adopted children, or kinship carers. The analysis finds clear examples of 'talking back' to all three categories, including through a process that linked categories, such that accepting aspects of one potentially stigmatised identity helped to explain membership of another. This suggests a potential refinement of Juhila's model. 'Looked after' was widely understood, but the term was seldom used by participants. There was evidence that participants 'talked back' to the idea of looked-after child by problematising its appropriateness in their circumstances, including home supervision and kinship care. In their discussions with researchers, these participants privileged biological understandings of 'family', affirming enduring links despite troubles and separations. The article concludes by identifying briefly some implications for policy and practice.