It is widely agreed that there is a need to transform care and support services. 'Supporting People' explores with service users, practitioners, carers and managers what person-centred support means to them, what barriers stand in the way and how these can be overcome.

There is widespread agreement that care and support services must change radically if they are to meet the rights and needs of the rapidly growing number of people who require them. For the first time, Supporting people explores with service users, practitioners, carers and managers what person-centred support means to them, what barriers stand in its way and how these can be overcome. It provides a unique roadmap for the future, offering theoretical insights, practical guidance and highlighting the importance of a participatory approach. Based on the largest independent UK study of person-centred support and written by an experienced team that includes service users, practitioners and researchers, it demonstrates how change can be made now, and what strategic changes will be needed for person-centred support to have a sustainable future.

If you work with people with autistic spectrum condition and are studying for a health and social care qualification, or you want the right information to help your personal development, then Next steps in supporting people with autistic spectrum condition is for you. This book puts the person with autism at the centre of the support you give. It uses real life stories, activities and thinking points to cover all of the learning outcomes and it is full of practical examples of how to apply the ideas to the support you provide.

Social workers and other social care professionals regularly face the challenges of working with people with alcohol and other drug problems. Yet many receive little, if any, training for working with these issues. As substance use and its social impact on communities and families rises up the political agenda, this book offers a timely support for social workers and other social care staff working in this area. Supporting people with alcohol and drug problems addresses the current gap in social work and social care education. It provides a combination of research evidence, policy frameworks, and practical hints and tips for good social work practice. Based around practice examples supplied by social workers from both adults' and children's social care, it combines knowledge with action. It also provides an important introduction to the evidence base on assessment, intervention and partnership working with specialist substance use colleagues. This book is for all those working in children's and adults' social work and social care settings who are working with people who use, or have problems with, alcohol and other drugs.

This reflective and evidence-based book will equip students as well as professionals who work with people with learning disabilities in primary, secondary and specialist healthcare settings, with the knowledge and skills they need to work effectively with people with learning disabilities. Chapters - written by leading academics and practitioners in the learning disabilities field - examine and discuss core issues, while a case-study approach ensures a solid grounding in practical skills. This practical element is further reinforced by the inclusion of service-user and practitioner ′voices′, whose lived experiences make the book even more engaging, as well as a range of reflective exercises and regular opportunities for readers to self-audit their learning. Reflecting the multi-professional nature of services for people with learning disabilities, this book will help practitioners and students make a real difference to the lives of people with learning disabilities who access health and social care environments.

If you are working within the learning disability sector and studying for the QCF Diploma in Health and Social Care, you will find this book invaluable in helping you to achieve the unit on Person Centred Approaches. It explains person centred values, how they must influence all aspects of your work and shows how to support active participation and choice. The book is easy to navigate, with each chapter covering one of the learning outcomes within the unit. Each chapter begins with an example taken from real people's stories and lots of activities, photographs and other illustrations are included throughout.

Supporting People with Dementia at Home details a groundbreaking study of an intensive care management scheme designed for older people with dementia that are at risk of entry into residential care. The authors use a quasi-experimental approach to compare how the individuals on the mental health team in one community were matched to a similar community without the service. They analyze the evidence focusing on the eventual placement of the individual suffering, the quality of care they receive, and also the needs of their carers. This book offers valuable evidence about the factors which can maximize the independence and well being of older people with dementia, from the perspective of older people and their carers. For those who commission services, it is highly relevant to service models for the National Dementia Strategy in England.

Exploring contemporary theory and practice surrounding loss and bereavement for people with intellectual disabilities (ID), this book brings together international contributors with a range of academic, professional and personal experience. This authoritative edited book looks at diverse experiences of loss across this population whether it be loss due to transition, the loss or death of others, or facing their own impending death. The book begins by offering theoretical perspectives on loss and compassion, bereavement, disenfranchised grief, spirituality, and psychological support. It then addresses contemporary practice issues in health and social care contexts and explores loss for specific communities with ID including children, individuals with autism, those in forensic environments, and those at the end of life. Identifying inherent challenges that arise when supporting individuals with ID experiencing loss, and providing evidence and case studies to support best practice approaches, this book will be valuable reading for students, academics and professionals in the fields of disability, health and social care.

Autism, which includes Asperger syndrome, is a lifelong condition which affects the way in which people interact with the world around them. There are estimated to be 400,000 adults with autism in England, many of whom may require specialised support. Yet the NAO found that most NHS organisations and local authorities do not know how many people with autism there are in the areas they serve, and three quarters of local authorities do not have a specific commissioning strategy for adults with autism. GPs and social care staff have low awareness of autism and how to diagnose it, with 80 per cent of GPs surveyed reporting that they need additional guidance and training in order to identify and treat patients with autism more effectively. Around 200,000 adults with autism do not have a learning disability. This group often fails to secure appropriate support, as health and social care services are traditionally configured for people with a learning disability, a physical illness or disability, or a mental health problem (which autism is not). Three quarters of local authorities said adults with autism who do not meet eligibility criteria experience or report difficulties accessing the services they require. Almost two thirds felt that current services for adults with autism are limited. Providing specialised support could improve outcomes for this group of people and their carers, and potentially enhance value for money, as the costs of establishing such support could be outweighed over time by overall savings. There are few specialised employment support services for people with autism. A lack of understanding of autism is a significant barrier to gaining employment and more training is needed for those delivering employment support and those administering benefits.

Hallucinations can occur across the five sensory modalities (auditory, visual, olfactory, tactile, and gustatory). Whilst they have the potential to be benign or even highly valued, they can often be devastating experiences associated with distress, impaired social and occupational functioning, self-harm and suicide. Those who experience hallucinations in this latter manner may do so within the context of a wide range of psychiatric diagnoses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The only routinely available interventions for people distressed by hallucinations are antipsychotic drugs, which date from the introduction of chlorpromazine in the 1950s, and manualized cognitive behavioral therapy, which originated in the 1990s. These interventions do not help all people distressed by hallucinations, and in the case of antipsychotic medication, come with notable side-effects. There has hence been great interest in new interventions to support people distressed by hallucinations. The goal of this Frontiers Research Topic is to present a collection of papers on new developments in clinical interventions for those distressed by hallucinations. In the psychiatric condition that remains most strongly associated with hallucinations, schizophrenia, the majority (~70%) of people will have experienced hallucinations in the auditory modality, approximately a third will have experienced visual hallucinations, and a smaller minority will have experienced hallucinations in other modalities. Consistent with this prevalence, this collection focusses on auditory and visual hallucinations. This is not to minimise the potential distress that can occur from hallucinations in other modalities. For example, tactile hallucinations, particularly when stemming from earlier experiences of sexual abuse, can be highly distressing, and improved ways to help sufferers of such experiences are also needed. In summary, this collection aims to result in an interdisciplinary collection of papers which will appeal to a wide readership, spanning all with an interest in this area.