Training support workers about the overmedication of people with intellectual disabilities: an Australian pre-post pilot study.

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that psychotropic medications are overprescribed and overused to manage behaviours of concern for people with intellectual disabilities. Disability support workers and support staff lack education and training on the administration and safety of psychotropic medication use. This study aimed to test the applicability and preliminary efficacy of SPECTROM, an education programme developed in the UK, in an Australian context. METHODS: The training comprises two parts: Module 1 encompasses psychotropic medications, their use and side effects. Module 2 focuses on non-pharmacological interventions for supporting people with behaviours of concern. Thirty-three participants attended the training course and completed pre-training and post-training surveys on the Psychotropic Knowledge Questionnaire and Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale-Revised at four time points: pre-training, 2 weeks, 3 months and 5 months post-training. RESULTS: Psychotropic Knowledge Questionnaire scores showed statistically significant post-training improvement at all post-training time points (P < 0.05). Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale-Revised scores were high at pre-training and did not change significantly at any of the post-training survey time points. A 2-week post-training feedback questionnaire reported 80% agreement that the training programme was appropriate, useful and valid. Only 36% of participants completed questionnaires at all time points. CONCLUSIONS: SPECTROM training increased staff knowledge of psychotropic medications, yet loss of participants was high. Further refinement of the applicability of the training for the Australian context and evaluation of the feasibility of implementation, clinical and cost-effectiveness of the programme are required.

Hyperaeration of the sphenoid sinus: cause for concern?

A case of exuberant pneumatization of the left sphenoid sinus into the pterygoid process and floor of the middle cranial fossa is presented. The fact that pneumatization of the sphenoid sinus is frequently atypical is of clinical import because there is an intimate relationship between the contents of a hyperaerated sinus and adjacent vital facial and cranial structures. It is imperative that clinicians determine the location and extent of the walls of the sphenoid sinus and its relationship to adjacent vital structures whenever endoscopic sinus surgery is contemplated to avoid morbid consequences during surgery.

Attachment and the emotional unit.

Until recently, the mother-child relationship was assumed to be the primary relationship affecting the outcome of an individual. This resulted in the mother-child dyad being seen and studied as separate from the family system in which it is embedded. This article asserts that, in order to understand this dyad adequately, one must understand "how" the family functions as an emotional unit that is guided by processes found in evolution and in relationships between living things. It goes beyond describing the family as a system of influence and seeks to account for the universal processes that occur in natural systems. It posits that the triangle is the basic building block of the emotional unit, and proposes a new theoretical dimension for understanding how attachment extends beyond dyads (such as parent-child) to include the emotional unit as a whole. Through triangles, the parent-child relationship is continually influenced by relationship forces operating within the system as a whole.