Edinburgh Napier University

  Background: As with the general population, people with intellectual disabilities are ageing, are living longer often with co-existing complex needs and with more requiring care and support. The focus of care is community-based rather than institutional and it is therefore necessary to ensure that the workforce responsible for delivering care has the appropriate knowledge and skills to safely deliver the interventions required.
Aims: The aim of this review is to evaluate the scope of invasive clinical interventions that social care support workers are currently delivering and the preparation received to undertake these procedures or the knowledge held about the intervention.
Methods: A search of educational, health, psychology, and social science databases was conducted, using a variety of combinations of search words to detect relevant literature. Only five studies published between 1999-2013 were identified and included in the review.
Findings: The evidence shows that education can improve social carer’s knowledge and when education is undertaken it needs to involve both a theoretical and practice-related component. The current evidence is limited due to the small number of studies identified and the limitations of the study designs that were adopted.
Discussion: More research is required to identify whether invasive clinical interventions currently being delivered by these social care support workers and the effectiveness and appropriateness of the education staff are receiving in relation to these.