MENTAL HANDICAP VOL. 12 DECEMBER 1984

Legal NEW PROVISIONS OF THE 1983 MENTAL HEALTH ACT

Readers’ attention is drawn to a recent Commencement Order made under the Mental Health Act, 1983 which brings into force provisions not introduced on 30th September, 1983. From 1st October, 1984 the following sections have come into force:

s.35 -

s.36 -

s.38 -

power of a Crown Court or Magistrates’ Court to remand an accused person for a report on his mental condition; power of a Crown Court to remand an accused person to hospital for treatment, provided he is suffering from mental illness or severe mental impairment; power of a Crown Court or Magistrates’ Court to impose an interim hospital order as an alternative to a hospital order. S.40(3) is brought into force to ensure s.38 will work.

Readers are referred to Hoggett, B. M. (1984) Mental Health Law

MIKE GUNN (2nd edn.) Ch.5. London: Sweet & Maxwell.

n Heviews BOOKS

An ordinary life - issues and strategies for training staff for community mental handicap services (Project Paper No. 42) Edited by Ann Shearer London: King’s Fund Centre, 1983 Pbk E2.50 54pp

This project paper is a follow on from the King’s Fund 1980 Project Paper No. 24, An Ordinary Life, which outlined the principles involved in developing a comprehensive locally based residential service for people with mental handicaps. Project Paper No. 42 aims to identify issues and strategies for training staff to work in community mental handicap services. The King’s Fund convened a group of 30 people, all experienced in their field, to examine the way this challenge is being tackled in various places, and to identify the key concepts and methods involved in training staff. The group also considered ways and means of involving parents in the work of community units.

The book comprises several chapters, containing the views of individuals and a group of four authors. Cartoons/diagrams are included, intended to reinforce the message and help the reader assimilate it

more fully. Two chapters, based on the principles of normalisation, deal with the concepts of values, ideas, and beliefs; how these are formed; and strategies for changing them.

Chapters on the involvement of parents draw on North American experiences and propose that parents should be seen as part of the professional team. There is a useful summary of starting points for staff who really want to involve parents, explaining what involvement means and how it can be achieved.

Four authors set about defining tasks, from policies to job descriptions. They base their contributions on the experiences of the Nimrod Project, and large chunks of what would seem to be the job descriptions for senior and care assistants are reproduced. There is a brief section on selection, recruitment and promotion of staff, drawing upon experiences in the Wessex region. A section on training of direct care staff summarises the “what” and the “how” of the Northumberland community homes project, bu t is principally about the preparation, orientation, and induction of staff moving into a community house (from a traditional mental handicap institution).

The experience of the Nebraskan Encor Scheme is used in the section on suppor t ing staff and how to be a supportive leader, pointing out the dangers of burn out and the importance of keeping staff motivated when working in isolated units.

All in all, I was disappointed by this book. Having been much impressed by

Project Paper 24, I expected a more cohesive and practical guide which could be used by staff working in community units or contemplating doing so. Certainly the book has a number of worthwhile messages, in particular the section about involving parents and the chapter dealing with ensuring continued and appropriate motivation and leadership of staff. However, the issues and strategies are only in part identified and tackled. Somehow the overall message seems disjointed and one is left feeling that the authors did not get their teeth into the meat of their subjects.

I would recommend this book to people who are planning and/or running community based mental handicap units, but I feel a great deal more research and reading is required to fully appreciate the implications of the message.

KEVIN STANLEY

Water Sports for the Disabled Water Sports Division of the British Association for the Disabled Wakefield: EP Publishing, 1984 Hbk S9.95 256pp

This handbook is written primarily for people who are themselves physically d i s a b l e d . I t g ives d e t a i l s of a comprehensive range of water sports and of the considerations and preparations which need to be made in order for them to participate.

The water sports featured include angling (with some ingenious tackle adaptations), canoeing, rowing, sailing, coastal cruising, sub-aqua, water-sluing, power boating, model yachting, and swimming. The ability to swim and to be confident in water are stressed as essential pre-requisites. In this respect the chapter on swimming could have been the first water sport featured. One chapter is set aside to consider water sports in general for people who are mentally handicapped. Here the authors report that, although considerable progress has been made, further developments and initiatives are needed.

Brief, pertinent medical descriptions are given of chosen conditions causing physical handicap, such as epilepsy, spina bifida, and spasticity. Their significance for particular water sports is explained in later chapters of the book, in a matter of fact, logical manner, using practical real instances which are enhanced by highly appropriate illustrations and photographs.

The risk factor in all the activities is recognised and planned for - not shunned. Some of the sailing dinghies do, however, seem to be overcrowded. Particularly for people who are mentally handicapped this seems an important issue to pursue, as is the use of crash helmets for canoeists.

All the attributes of a good handbook are in evidence - a rich source of ideas, a d d r e s s e s , c o n t a c t s , u p - t o - d a t e

172 0 1984 British Institute of Mental Handicap