Archive

Helping People with Learning Disabilities Manage Continence: A Workbook for Support Workers and Carers
Alice Bradley with Loretto Lambe
BILD Publications
ISBN: 1904082823,
£12

STAR RATING: 3/5

Supporting Continence Management: A Reader for Managers
Alice Bradley with Loretto Lambe
BILD Publications
ISBN: 190408284X,
£20

STAR RATING: 3/5

The book for carers and support workers tackles the main issues of continence and how incontinence can affect an individual, writes Julian Budden. The practical "hands-on" aspect of care is handled in a sensitive manner, as are issues such as respecting a person and maintaining their dignity. However, it is here the book does not follow its own advice.

The picture on the cover shows a person being supported to meet their personal care needs. This is in a cramped room where the toilet roll is on the floor. Not only that, but the curtains have been left wide open for us all to enjoy an uninterrupted view of the garden. This only serves to contradict everything the book says about respecting an individual.

The messages in the book are also contradicted by some of the statements in the section on abuse, which can only be described as "sweeping" while others, presented as fact, would not stand up to scrutiny.

The resource section is useful (even if one of the websites is now offline), key points are raised and our knowledge challenged often enough to complement learning.

All this combines to make us feel the book has been written by someone who assumes they "know better" a point reinforced by the condescending tone used throughout. A shame really because there is much to commend the book.

In the companion book for managers, the authors do little more than convince us the information here can be found elsewhere and in more detail. They do this by directing us to various references, many on the internet.

Fine if you can find them the one I was looking for must be lost in cyberspace. The writing style adopted doesn't help either. Despite this, the book does have many plus points. All the information is in one place and testimonies from parents offer an insight into how continence affects a person's life.

Julian Budden is day centre manager, learning difficulty service in Trafford