Learning disability: Experiences of health transition into specialist learning disability adult services and communication within mental health settings

Sotonwa, Abisoye (2024) Learning disability: Experiences of health transition into specialist learning disability adult services and communication within mental health settings. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

Preview

PDF Download (4MB) | Preview

Abstract

The overall aim of the thesis portfolio was to explore the experiences of learning disability mental health services. This was explored in two parts: by conducting a systematic review to understand the experiences of communication within mental health settings; and by exploring parental transition experiences into adult learning disability services from learning disability children and adolescent mental health services through an empirical study.

The systematic review employed a thematic analysis to synthesise 19 peer-reviewed empirical studies and one study from the grey literature. All studies utilised a qualitative design method. The result of the systematic review revealed four superordinate themes: ‘the need for inclusive communication within care’, ‘relating with one another’, ‘empowered vs disempowered’, and ‘delivery of care’. The review highlighted how adapting communication helped improve service experience and inclusivity to care and made services more accessible. It also showed areas of failings in communication experience. These related to service users and families not feeling informed and listened to, and healthcare professionals’ difficulties in understanding and communicating with service users.

The Empirical research utilised Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to analyse data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four parents of individuals diagnosed with a learning disability who were receiving care in the adult community learning disability team. Findings revealed three superordinate themes: ‘impact of transition on sense of control’, ‘making sense of challenges experienced’ and ‘the experience of service provision’. The findings highlighted the experience of parents of feeling unheard and uninformed during the transition process and showed the difficulties experienced during decision-making processes following transition. It also revealed suggestions of how services can improve to better support the transition process. 3

The findings from both papers signified the highly desired need for the voices of service users and families to be represented in their ca

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	07 Nov 2024 10:05
Last Modified:	07 Nov 2024 10:05
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/97554
DOI:

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item