Learning Disabilities

Dear all,

The latest Learning Disabilities & Autism bulletin is ready for you to view at https://www.evidentlybetter.org/learning-disability-autism/2026/02/11-february-2026-2/


In this edition:

  • Learning from Lives and Deaths – people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR)
  • Learning disabilities and adolescent suicidal ideation: Findings from the z-proso cohort study
  • Barriers and facilitators to healthcare access for adults with learning disabilities and autistic adults in England: A scoping review and meta-aggregation
  • Autism and menstruation: scoping review reveals unmet healthcare needs
  • National Cancer Plan promises tailored support for people with learning disabilities
  • One in six autistic pupils in UK have not attended school at all since September
  • Plus much more

Please let me know if you think there are other people who would benefit from receiving this and I will add them to the mailing list.

The new Learning Disability and Neurodiversity bulletins will be starting w/b 9th March. To ensure that you continue to receive the appropriate bulletin(s) please complete this very brief form LD + ND Mailing lists – Fill in form

Thank you

Community Health Bulletin

Dear all,

The latest Community Health Bulletin is ready for you to view at  https://www.evidentlybetter.org/community-bulletin/2026/02/25-february-2026/

In this edition:

  • Community Mental Health Survey 2024: national qualitative report
  • Transforming access to children and young people’s mental health support
  • How the internet hijacked our health
  • Liverpool’s ‘blue people’: the older adults redefining what ageing looks like
  • Thousands recruited for “new era” severe mental illness study
  • Children to be better protected from second-hand smoking and vaping
  • Plus much more

Please let us know if there are other people who you think might benefit from receiving this bulletin.


Thank you

Dementia Bulletin

Hi all,

The latest dementia bulletin from Mersey Care Evidence and Library Service has now been published at https://www.evidentlybetter.org/dementia/2026/02/17-february-2026/

In this issue:

  • Development of a resource use measure to capture costs related to unpaid care for people living with non-memory led dementia: a modified Delphi study
  • Feasibility of the MAINTAIN intervention to support independence after a fall for people with dementia: a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial in participants’ own homes
  • Blood Sugar Spikes After Eating May Raise Alzheimer’s Risk
  • Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study suggests
  • Plus much more

Please let me know if you think there are other colleagues who would benefit from receiving this bulletin and I will add them to the mailing list.

Community Health Bulletin

Dear all,

The latest Community Health Bulletin is ready for you to view at  https://www.evidentlybetter.org/community-bulletin/2026/02/11-february-2026/

In this edition:

  • Monitoring the Mental Health Act in 2024/25
  • Substance misuse treatment in secure settings: 2024 to 2025
  • Co-regulation: advice for coping with our children’s – and our own – big emotions
  • What if the ‘nanny state’ is exactly what our health needs?
  • Designed for life? Why mental health services need a radical redesign of their physical fabric
  • New fund to tackle cancer screening inequalities and save lives
  • Plus much more

Please let us know if there are other people who you think might benefit from receiving this bulletin.


Thank you

National Statistics

Drug misuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2025.
Office for National Statistics (ONS); 2025.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/drugmisuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2025
[An overview of the extent and trends of illicit drug use. Data are from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Release date: 11 December 2025.]
Freely available online

Report

Cultivating Cultural Recovery Pathways for Black and Asian Communities in Scotland.
Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP); 2026.
https://www.shaap.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cultivating-Recovery-Pathways-for-Black-and-Asian-Communities-in-Scotland-Event-Report-1.pdf
[This report calls for a set of interconnected actions to make recovery pathways culturally responsive and equitable. Central to this vision is the development of integrated community hubs that combine housing, health, family support, and addiction recovery in welcoming, non-clinical spaces. Cultural safety must be embedded across all services through mandatory cultural humility training and
anti-racist, trauma-informed practice.]
Freely available online

Annual Report

National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health (NCISH) : Annual Report 2026.
Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP); 2026.
https://www.hqip.org.uk/resource/ncish-ref701/
[This latest report from the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health,(NCISH) found that there were 18,602 suicides by patients in the UK and Jersey over 2013-2023, an average of 1,691 deaths per year (26% of all general population suicides).]
Freely available online

Report

Community Mental Health Services: Fourth Report of Session 2024–26.
House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee; 2026.
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmhealth/566/report.html
[This report says that many people experience unacceptably long waits to access care, are discharged without ongoing support, and are denied care because they do not meet arbitrary thresholds. The Committee wants to see a 24/7 Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre in every community. But it says that the chances of this are threatened by short-term funding cycles, lack of digital interoperability, workforce shortages, and unclear plans for national scale-up of 6 pilot centres.]
Freely available online

Guidance

Guidance on good quality specialist community psychology services for people with learning disabilities.
British Psychological Society (BPS); 2025.
https://explore.bps.org.uk/content/report-guideline/bpsrep.2025.rep191
[This guidance says what good community psychology services should look like for adults with
learning disabilities. It’s designed to help psychologists and other professionals, service providers and commissioners. It may also help people with learning disabilities and their families and carers if they need to know what should be in psychology services.]
Freely available online

Learning from Lives and Deaths

People with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR)

Kings College London

The national Learning from Lives and Deaths – people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) report (2023) has been re-published in January 2026.

The Learning from Lives and Deaths – people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) programme, funded by NHS England and NHS Improvement, was established in 2017 to improve healthcare for people with a learning disability and autistic people. LeDeR aims to:

  • Improve care for people with a learning disability and autistic people.
  • Reduce health inequalities for people with a learning disability and autistic people.
  • Prevent people with a learning disability and autistic people from early deaths.

Access the report here: Learning from Lives and Deaths – people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) | King’s College London