Editorial
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14668203200500007 |
| Pages | 2-3 |
| Published date | 01 August 2005 |
| Date | 01 August 2005 |
| Author | Derek Beeston |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Sociology |
2©Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Limited The Journal of Adult Protection Volume 7 Issue 2 • August 2005
Editorial
This issue of the Journal of Adult Protection
includes a range of papers that consider: an
audit of adult protection cases in a hospice
setting; a review of the literature on the
effectiveness of interventions designed to
prevent and protect people with intellectual
disabilities from sexual abuse; evidencing
good practice in adult protection for people
with learning disabilities; the long-term
effects of the abusive regime at the Longcare
homes; and The Mental Capacity Act 2005.
The first paper by Malcolm Payne
highlights the ‘invisible’ issue of adult
protection in palliative care. An audit of cases
with possible adult protection issues at a large
south London hospice reveals the complexity
of developing effective adult protection
policies, even where a range of procedures
and mechanisms already exist to detect abuse.
Through a series of case studies the paper
clearly demonstrates the multifaceted
interaction between advanced illness, social
circumstances and community care services
that may not fully understand the serious
nature of terminal illness. Such circumstances
present very real challenges to the vulnerable
adult and to health and social care
professionals involved on a day-to-day basis.
Aclear dilemma exists in situations where, by
putting the client’spreferences first, the client
is exposed to greater risk of abuse.
The second paper by Bruder and Kroese
provides a review of the literatureon the
efficacy of interventions that aim to prevent
and protect people with intellectual
disabilities from sexual abuse. After
discussing the prevalence of sexual abuse for
this group and identifying risk factors the
paper explores a range of teaching
interventions that might assist adults and
children with intellectual disabilities to avoid
sexual abuse. One positive finding reported is
that adults with intellectual disabilities can
benefitfrom such teaching programmes. The
review also highlights the need for
maintaining the newly acquired skills in the
longer term, and the need for future research
in this area with larger sample sizes.
The third paper by Northway et al brings
the need to evidence good practice in adult
protection into sharp focus. As long ago as
1997 the UK government identified the need
for a health service based on good quality
evidence (Department of Health, 1997). In
reporting the literature search, review and
mapping exercise that formed part of a
research study sponsored by the Wales Office
for Research and Development (WORD) this
paper suggests that in the relatively new field
of adult protection providing a systematic
evidence base for health and social care
practice remains more rhetoric than reality.
The fourth paper by Pring, a freelance
journalist, provides a moving and sensitive
account of the longer-term effects of abuse on
three people who were victims/survivors of
the Longcarehomes scandal (see
Buckinghamshire County Council, 1998).
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