Children vs dependent older people – facilitators and barriers to providing oral hygiene

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In this their latest blog Gemma Gaw, Suzy Harkness, Emma O’Donnell Scottish Specialty Registrars in Special Care Dentistry look at a review comparing barriers and facilitators to providing oral health measures for both children and dependent older adults.

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From charity to social enterprise: a case study highlights challenges in adopting self-directed support policy

What are the impacts when a third-sector organisation providing social care services moves toward an open and competitive market?

Jenny Fisher considers the perspectives of staff, managers and service users of a Scottish social care charitable organisation for children with complex needs, which faces funding and organisational change, brought about by self-directed support legislation.

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Occlusal caries prevention: Seal or varnish?

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This large, well-conducted study in a primary care setting found a small, but not statistically significant difference, between fissure sealants and fluoride varnish for the prevention of caries in first permanent molars at 36 months.

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Challenging behaviour in children with Fragile X syndrome

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In this blog, Rose Tomlins considers a recent paper, which focuses on expanding the evidence base for efficacy of using functional analysis with children who have Fragile X syndrome and severely challenging behaviour.

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Sleep problems in children with learning disabilities. Can a group delivered sleep management intervention help?

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Lack of sleep for parents has been associated with depression, stress and anxiety and sleep problems for parents of children with learning disabilities are common.

Here, Rachel Allen looks at an evaluation of the effectiveness of a sleep management intervention that was delivered through support to groups of parents.

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Can we model the development and maintenance of self-injury in children with developmental delay?

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Self-injurious behaviour can have a severe impact on the quality of life of some children with developmental delay.

Here, Alix Dixon looks at a review of an extensive body of literature around potential causal mechanisms and aggravating characteristics which aims to develop a clearer working model to inform practice.

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Can early intervention reduce challenging behaviour in children with learning disabilities?

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Children with learning disabilities are more likely to have challenging behaviours and as a result are more at risk of social exclusion, deprivation, physical harm and abuse.

In her debut blog, Alix Dixon considers the findings of a recent literature review of early interventions for children with challenging behaviours and their families.

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Caries: review suggests a higher risk in HIV-infected children

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This review included 5 case-controlled studies only 2 of which were at low risk of bias and suggested that HIV-infected children have a higher risk of cavitated caries in their primary teeth, OR = 2.98, 95% CI; 1.59-5.59.

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Anxiety in young people with learning disabilities: prevalence and assessment

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Anxiety disorders are estimated to affect over 3% of children and young adults in the UK, but it is less clear how common such disorders might be amongst children and adolescents with learning disabilities.

Here, in his debut blog, Sam Jee looks at a systematic review which looks at what we know about the prevalence and measurement of anxiety in children and adolescents with learning disabilities.

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Relationship training for children and family practitioners: does it work?

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Martin Webber looks at a rare social work randomised controlled trial (RCT) on relationship training for practitioners working with children and families and finds that even findings from a study using ‘gold standard’ research methodology have to be carefully examined for reliability.

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