Needs of People With Learning Disabilities

Subject: Nursing
Pages: 4
Words: 869
Reading time:
4 min
Study level: College

Heller, Gibbons, and Fisher (2015) focus on the contribution that caregivers can make to the progress of people with learning disabilities (LD), as well as aging people. Therefore, testing the cross-platform tool can be viewed as the primary objective of the research.

The research was conducted with the help of scoping interviews among the target audience that the authors defined as baby-boomer generation representatives. According to the study outcomes, the programs that focused on incorporating both financial support and the assistance of family members were the most successful in addressing the needs of people with LD, both age-related and inherent ones.

The study conducted by Heller et. al (2015) can be deemed as of rather high value as it sheds light on the importance of enhancing the role of family members, at the same time indicating that the latter need the guidance of professional nurses so that the intervention could be successful. In other words, it sets the stage for the design of a new and improved comprehensive program.

Among the problems of the research, the fact that the authors did not conduct a full systematic review needs to be brought up. Nevertheless, the paper can be viewed as very helpful since it points to the areas that will have to be addressed during the next program. Serving as the foundation for building a cohesive strategy for meeting the needs of people with disabilities, the paper is very helpful.

Castell and Kroesse (2016) address the issue of tending to the needs of the people with LD from a rather narrow perspective. The scholars consider the ways, in which pregnant women with the identified disorder can be assisted.

The data was collected with the help of semi-structured interviews among the target audience. As far as the analysis of the research data is concerned, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used as the key tool. The authors used a qualitative design since there was no need to quantify the relationships between the variables.

The significance of the research results cannot possibly be doubted. Castell and Kroesse (2016) have created the framework that will help address the needs of women with LD so that the issue of information provision and the awareness rates among women with LD could be resolved successfully.

It could be argued, though, that the experience of nine midwives is not enough to create the program that will help meet the needs of every woman with LD. Nevertheless, the study can be considered an important addition to the overall understanding of the specifics of working with people with LD. Therefore, it should be used as one of the sources of general information for the analysis.

Jahagirdar, Kroll, Ritchie, and Wyke (2012) shed light on the effects that patient-reported outcome methods (PROM) have on the quality improvement of healthcare services for patients with LD. Particularly, the accessibility of PROM to the target members of the population is tested.

The study design implied conducting eight interviews with the members of the target audience. Apart from the information gathered from the patients, four focus groups with 20 nurses were involved in the research.

The outcomes can be viewed as crucial to the design of a new approach toward managing the needs of people with LD, as well as promoting participation in social activities. Therefore, facilitating the environment, in which the patients will be free to choose the reporting format, as well as allowing the target audience to be active, is imperative to encourage progress.

The varying extent of literacy and the related skills among the target audience can be viewed as the key limitation of the study. Still, the study outlined quite skillfully the crucial aspects of the program that allowed patients with LD to participate. Therefore, it can be considered an important addition to the overall understanding of PLD’s needs. Furthermore, these outcomes may serve as the foundation for the design of a new program.

Focusing on the family support that people with LD may receive to adapt to their social environment and become its active members, Wai-Tong and Lee (2013) consider the problem from the perspective of parents, suggesting the teaching techniques and various forms of support that can be helpful for children with LD.

The research results showed that the issue of stigma, which people with LD, as well as their family, have to battle with every single minute, affects the quality of the intervention process to a considerable extent. Moreover, the cultural specifics of the people that suffer from LD must be taken into account when designing an appropriate intervention program.

The research outcomes are crucial to addressing the cross-cultural issue that may emerge when catering to the needs of people with LD. Therefore, the study outcomes should be viewed as essential for consideration when creating an intervention program. It should be noted, though, that the study was limited to a single nursing center.

However, one may conclude that the outcomes of the research are of huge importance to the success of the program to be created. It serves as the example of how people with LD, as well as their family members, can be engaged in the process successfully and become active participants, thus, increasing chances for success.

Reference List

Castell, E., Kroesse, B. S. (2016). Midwives׳ experiences of caring for women with learning disabilities – A qualitative study. Midwifery, 36(1), 35-42. Web.

Heller, T., Gibbons, H. M., & Fisher, D. (2015). Caregiving and family support interventions: Crossing networks of aging and developmental disabilities. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 53(5), 329-345. Web.

Jahagirdar, D., Kroll, T., Ritchie, K., & Wyke, S. (2012). Using patient reported outcome measures in health services: A qualitative study on including people with low literacy skills and learning disabilities. BMC Health Services Research, 12(1), 431-438. Web.

Wai-Tong, C., & Lee, I. Y M. (2013). An exploratory study of parents’ perceived educational needs for parenting a child with learning disabilities. Asian Nursing Research, 7(1), 16-25. Web.