Learning Disability and Sexual Abuse: Use of a Woman‐Only Counselling Service by Women with a Learning Disability: A Pilot Study

Howlett, Sue; Danby, Joanne

doi:10.1108/13595474200700002

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This information could assist planning and delivery of services/interventions, with performance indicators to measure improvement. One exemplar of such development is a gender-sensitive mental health service for women with intellectual disabilities set up as a pilot scheme in Newcastle, England, where women were helped to access and engage with a mainstream rape crisis centre offering specific counselling (Howlett and Dandy, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Listening to women with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems

Taggart¹,

McMillan²,

Lawson³

2009

J Intellect Disabil

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Women without intellectual disabilities are more likely to develop mental health problems as a result of physiological functioning and psychosocial risk factors. However, little is known about the mental health of women with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study was to explore a small group of women's perceptions of the risk and protective factors pertaining to their mental health conditions. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2007 in Northern Ireland. Thematic content analysis identified three risk factors and four protective/resilient factors. None of the women identified physiological functioning as a risk factor. Results suggest that women with intellectual disabilities experience psychosocial risk factors similar to those reported by women without intellectual disability. Additional risk factors place them at higher risk of developing mental health problems. However, more research is required.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Listening to women with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems

Taggart¹,

McMillan²,

Lawson³

2009

J Intellect Disabil

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite the discrepancy in figures, a growing body of evidence indicates that people with learning disabilities are more likely to experience sexual abuse than the general population. Research has also consistently shown that this group is less likely to be offered support that they find meaningful (Howlett & Dandby, ; McCarthy, ; Olsen & Harris, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving service responses for people with learning disabilities who have been sexually assaulted: An audit of forensic services

Olsen

Majeed‐Ariss

Teniola

et al. 2017

Brit J Learn Disabil

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accessible summary• When people report being sexually assaulted they can be examined by a specially trained doctor to see how the assault might have affected them. They may also ask for help from a counsellor or other specially trained support workers. These staff might belong to a sexual assault referral centre (SARC).• This study reports findings from work that staff from St Mary's SARC in Manchester did so that they could improve the services they offer to people with learning disabilities who have been sexually assaulted.• A staff survey showed that staff thought they might not always recognise if a person had learning disabilities or another learning difficulty like dyslexia. We wonder if knowing the difference is as important as knowing how to support people well.Looking at patient notes showed that patients with learning disabilities received less follow-up care than patients without learning disabilities.• This study describes the first step that the SARC team took to improve their service. Improvements have been made based on these first findings, including some of those recommended by staff in their surveys. These will be reported in another paper to see if they have made a difference to people with learning disabilities. AbstractBackground: People with learning disabilities are more likely to experience sexual abuse and less likely to access support than the general population, this is due to a range of variables at the individual, societal and service-delivery level. This study presents a service evaluation of St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Manchester to explore its ability to provide meaningful support to people with learning disabilities and to identify ways to improve its responses. Materials and Methods:The service evaluation had two components: (i) A staff survey to elicit self-perception of the knowledge and skills required to meaningfully support people with learning disabilities who attended the centre following an allegation of rape or sexual assault (ii) An audit of patient notes to compare service delivered to patients with a learning disability to those without.Results: Forty-two members of staff (over 75% response rate) completed the survey which found a lack of differentiation between learning disabilities and other types of neurodiversity. The majority of responders reported having enough knowledge about | 239 OLSEN Et aL.

show abstract

“…Academic papers on the subject are few, with isolated projects as far apart as Tyneside Q1 and Devon (Howlett and Dandby, 2007;Palmer, 2009), both of which discuss pilot schemes directed at supporting women with learning disabilities . While these reports reveal the benefits of mainstream counselling and support for women with learning disabilities, they do little to explore the reasons behind the typical lack of availability of mainstream services in the treatment and support of women with learning disabilities following domestic and other abuse.…”

Section: Prevalence Of Rape and Sexual Assaultmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responding to the needs of people with learning disabilities who have been raped: co-production in action

Olsen

Carter²

2016

Tizard Learning Disability Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss a project that explored why mainstream rape support services are still failing to meet the needs of women with learning disabilities. Principles of co-production and action learning enabled a group of women, including women with learning disabilities, to share knowledge and skills and develop easy-read information leaflets. Design/methodology/approach – The project included representatives from a university, a third sector organisation and a rape crisis centre. Action learning methods were used to bring together a broad range of experience and expertise. The project was co-led by a woman with a learning disability and a lecturer in social work with people with learning disabilities. Findings – Three organisations had been toiling with a similar issue, that of responses to women with learning disabilities who had been raped. All had previously examined the problem from their own perspectives. An action learning process enabled them to explore the issues from a range of experiences, sharing knowledge and expertise and enabling them to begin to develop better service responses. While co-production may highlight competing priorities in and between organisations, it can also provide the means of managing these tensions. Social implications – The project demonstrated the importance of co-production. Working together led to a shared understanding of the barriers experienced by women with learning disabilities who experience rape and of the challenges faced by workers who aim to support them. This shared understanding enabled the action learning set to develop bespoke training and literature. Originality/value – The project demonstrates the importance of working with people with learning disabilities in order to develop services that truly meet their needs.

show abstract

Learning Disability and Sexual Abuse: Use of a Woman‐Only Counselling Service by Women with a Learning Disability: A Pilot Study

Cited by 3 publications

References 13 publications

Listening to women with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems

Listening to women with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems

Improving service responses for people with learning disabilities who have been sexually assaulted: An audit of forensic services

Responding to the needs of people with learning disabilities who have been raped: co-production in action

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About