Despite the fact that attending to the personal hygiene of people with severe learning disabilities makes up a large part of carers’ work, it is a relatively under-researched area. Julie Clark carried out a study to discover how carers felt about this part of their work

People with severe and profound learning disabilities still represent one of the most marginalised groups in society. These people often have no formal language skills and rely on others to provide intimate care on a daily basis (Samuel and Pritchard 2001, PMLD Network 2002).