New guidance has been published to help care homes support people with learning disabilities who have a diagnosis of dementia. The guidance, titled “My new home: Supporting people with an intellectual/learning disability and advanced dementia moving into a care home,” has been developed in a partnership between Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Alzheimer Scotland, University of Stirling and others to support people with a learning disability and advanced dementia to move to a care home should that be in their best interests.
The partnership says that the transition to a care home often happens in a crisis and that the guidance was needed to improve outcomes. Lynn Flannigan, senior improvement advisor at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said that moving to a care home was often in the resident’s best interests, but could also be detrimental to the individual and their families. “We found that care home staff often lack the confidence to support this transition hence we developed and published this guidance. We believe it has the potential to support staff to improve outcomes and experiences for people with a learning disability and dementia and for those who care for them.” For the guidance, click HERE https://ihub.scot/media/9648/supporting-people-with-a-learning-disability-and-advancing-dementia-guidance-for-staff-v20.pdf