Involve
Me
The Involve Me resource aims to
increase the involvement of
people with profound and
multiple learning disabilities
(PMLD) in decision making and
consultation. The resource is
the result of a three year
project, supported by the Renton
Foundation and run by Mencap and
BILD.
The
Rix Centre's Big
Tree
The Big Tree is dedicated to
sharing information and ideas
about multimedia and
what it can do for the
learning disability community.
The site is run by the Rix
Centre, a research and
development centre and
independent charity that is
based at the University of East
London's Docklands campus.
The Big Tree is designed for
people working with and
supporting people with intellectual
disabilities, including social
carers, teachers, web
developers, family members and
advocates.
Find
out more on the Big Tree
website.
Oxfordshire
Total Communication
Are you a support worker, parent
or carer? Do you know or work
with someone with a learning
disability? This website is just
for you!
Here you will find a host of
information, links, free
resources which you can
download, and ideas from other
people in Oxfordshire who are
using Total Communication to
communicate effectively with
people with a learning
disability.
Find
out more on their
website.
Gloucestershire
Total Communication
Gloucestershire Total
Communication offers training
courses in communication. The
process aims to ensure a 'common
language' is adopted for all people
to help make a consistent and
positive difference to everybody's
lives.
Find
out more on their website.
Clear and Easy:
Making information easy to
read
and understand
Clear and Easy is a handbook for
making written information easy
to read and understand for
people with a learning
disability. The handbook,
produced by Learning Disability
Wales, is for anyone who is, or
should be, producing accessible
information for people with a
learning disability. Clear and
Easy will help you whether you
are from a local advocacy group,
a public sector organsiation, or
a private service provider, such
as a bank.
Find
out more on their
website.
Animation
aims to make it easier to
understand the NHS
framework
NHS Greenwich Clinical Consulting
Group, along with Enabled City
and NHS England, have produced
an animated graphics films to
help explain the national
framework for NHS Continuing
Healthcare. The film is about 30
minutes long, and there are 2
versions. The 'continuous
play' version is the whole film.
The 'playlist version' is the
same film divided into sections,
and you can move between the
sections by using the menu
control. The film uses pictures,
audio and text, and there is no
spoken information that is not
also shown in text.
Watch
the continuous play
version.
Watch
the playlist version.
Find
out more on their
website.
Communication
and people with the most
complex
needs: What works and why
this is
essential
This guide was commissioned by
Mencap in partnership with the
Department of Health as part of
the programme of work set out in
Valuing People Now to ensure
people with the most complex
needs are included. The guide is
aimed at commissioners, to
support them in commissioning
support and services which meet
the communication needs of
people with the most complex
needs, including people with
PMLD. However, it will also be
useful for family carers,
frontline staff and people with
a learning disability.
Find
out more about this and
download
a copy of the report or the
easy
read version, on the Mencap
website.
The
Office for Disability Issues
(ODI) The
Office
for Disability Issues (ODI) leads
the government’s vision of achieving
equality for disabled people. They
are a cross-government organisation
that works with government
departments, disabled people and a
wide range of external groups.
Their website gives information
about inclusive communications,
offering advice and resources.
Find
out more on their
website.
How
to make information
accessible
There is a guide to making
information accessible produced
by Change, called 'How to make
information accessible - a guide
to producing easy read
documents'.
You can download
a copy from their
website
Making written
information easier to
understand
for people with learning
disabilities
Department of Health document
published in November 2010 giving
guidance for people who
commission or produce Easy Read
information.
Download
a copy from here
Hearing
from the Seldom
Heard
People with learning disabilities
face many barriers in being able
to complain about the services
they receive. However people
with profound and multiple
learning disabilities and other
complex communication needs are
not going to be greatly helped
simply by the production of an
integrated complaints procedure
or an 'accessible' complaints
leaflet, however well
designed.
The Hearing from the Seldom Heard
project aimed to look at how to
overcome barriers and create
listening cultures within
organizations to hear from those
who are seldom heard.
Find
out more about the project
and
download the resources on
this
website.
The
Hearing from the Seldom
Heard
resource, 'Communication
tools
and approaches' has a long
list
of links to further, useful,
information.
Netbuddy
Apps for the iPad
Netbuddy has an information page
about communications
applications that you can run on
the Apple iPad computer.
Find
out more on the Netbuddy
website.
The five good
communication standards
The
Royal College of Speech and
Language Therapists have
published ‘Five good
communication standards:
Reasonable adjustments to
communication that individuals
with learning disability and/or
autism should expect in
specialist hospital and
residential settings’.
The standards are intended as a
practical resource to support
families, carers, staff,
professionals, providers and
commissioners to make a
difference to the lives of
individuals using specialist
residential services.
View
the standards
Award winning Social Care
Jargon Buster
Think Local Act Personal’s Social
Care Jargon Buster lists 52 of
the most commonly used words and
phrases in social care and what
they mean.
The definitions were developed
and tested with people who use
services, carers and family
members and those who work in
social care to ensure they were
easy to understand.
The Jargon Buster has won an
award from the Plain English
Campaign for how it describes
complicated social care words in
plain, simple language.
View
the Jargon Buster
Shining a light on
Augmentative and Alternative
Communication
Report on research undertaken by
the University of Sheffield with
Barnsley Hospital aimed to
provide robust evidence of how
many people in the UK could
benefit from AAC and to provide
for the first time a picture of
current AAC service provision in
the UK.
Read
the report
online
Breaking Bad News
website
A
website that can be used by
practitioners, families and
carers to ease the process of
breaking bad news to people with
intellectual disabilities
Find
out more on the Breaking Bad
News website
A Safe
Community
Disabilinet
is a new social networking site
developed specifically for
disabled people. The community
website has been specifically
designed to allow people with
disabilities to communicate with
each other and share experiences
in a safe and secure
environment. Disabilinet offers
specific news, views and topics
relevant to less able people.
Find
out more on the Disabilinet
website
Top
of the page
The
Knowledge Base at the British
Association for Supported
Employment The
knowledge base is an open, freely
accessible trove of information and
resources, both for supported
employment and for disability /
employment support generally. These
resources include practical guidance
and support, policy and research
reports, evaluations, framework
documents and links to relevant
content elsewhere on the web.
In addition to contributions
from BASE and its member
organisations, the knowledge base
also acts as an archive for
initiatives such as Valuing People
Now.
Find
out more on the BASE
website.
Empowering 'offenders' to
move into
employment
Step Up is a project empowering
people with a learning
disability or communication
difficulty aged 16-30 who have
offended or are at risk of
offending to move into
employment.
This peer-led project takes learnings from the successful Raising Your Game and Employ Me projects. Step Up engages and prepares this group to move into the workforce through social action initiatives and 1:1 support.
Find
out more on the Mencap
website.
This is your future
Leonard Cheshire Disability, a
charity that helps to support
people learning disabilities
look for employment, launched
'This is your Future' this week
- a career guide specifically
designed for students with
disabilities. The guide is full
of useful information about
starting a career and covers
looking for work, the
recruitment process, being in a
job and the different types of
support available at each of
these stages.
The
guide is available to
download
here
Checklist for autism
friendly
environments
The Checklist for Autism Friendly
Environments is an innovative
assessment tool designed to
support organisations who want
to become autism friendly. It
helps organisations measure the
effectiveness of their
environment and asks if they can
consider whether there are
simple, low cost solutions that
can be made to improve the lives
of people with autism within
their service. The guide was
produced by South West Yorkshire
Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
in partnership with Kirklees
Council.
The
checklist is available to
download here
Employment - disclosing
an autism diagnosis to
employers
In this filmed interview,
Catherine Leggett, Employment
Training Consultant with the
National Autistic Society, gives
her top 5 autism tips for
autistic people on disclosing
their diagnosis to employers.
Catherine offers advice on what
information to provide employers
and how and where to get further
support.
Watch the interview >
Disability employment
gap: Government won't meet
manifesto targets until
2065
A new report from the all-party
parliamentary on disability
(APPG) highlights the Government
will miss its manifesto target
to halve the disability
employment gap
The report entitled ‘Ahead of the
arc’ highlights the current
disability employment gap of 32
per cent will reduce by just 2.6
percentage points by 2020 on
current rates of progress, and
that it will take until 2065 to
reach the target of 16
percentage points.
Download
the report >
Valuing
People Now employment
resources
The Department of Health has
developed tools to help Local
Authorities support people with
learning disabilities into
work.
To access the resources visit the Department of health website.
Make
the Move
Make the Move is a website aimed
at young people with learning
disabilities in Scotland. The
website aims to be a helpful
guide for young people at any
stage of their careers, from
thinking about a job to gaining
promotion and progressing
further.
www.makethemove.org.uk/
Your rights at work
This film was made with a group
of people with learning
disabilities by the Disability
Law Service. It shows what
people with learning
disabilities can do if they have
problems at work. There is also
an easy read guide to download
as well.
Find
out more and see the
film
miEnterprise
miEnterprise is the UK's leading
supported self-employment
specialist. It is a social
enterprise that operates as a mutual
marketing co-operative.
"We
set miEnterprise up because we know
that there are a lot of people with
earning disabilities and other
disadvantages in the jobs market who
would like to work. We also know
that not very many people are
working, and getting paid!"
Visit
the miEnterprise website to find
out more.
In
Business Quick guide to
Self-employment
This
publication is part of the In
Business Easy Business Planning
series and gives basic information
about what you might need to set up
a business or be self employed. A
list of organisations who may be
able to provide help and advice is
also included.
Find out more
and
downnload
the guide on the Foundation for
People with Learning
Disabilities' website. There
is also a page about the
In
Business service.
Micro-enterprises
An information fact sheet from
In Control about how self-directed
support can help you to set up your
own business.
Open
the leaflet.
There
are lots more fact sheets from In
Control available
on
these pages on their
website. They
also have audio versions of
their fact sheets available
here.
Films about employment from
Inclusive Films
It’s Working in Dudley:tells the
story of people with learning
disabilities making a real
success of paid work.
Self Employment for People with
Learning Disabilities:shows
people working for themselves
and succeeding with a variety of
different business types.
Self Employment for People with
Mental Health Problems: we meet
people who have chosen to work
for themselves, find out about
their journey, the support they
have had and the pros and cons
of this approach.
Watch
them on the Inclusive Films
website
Disability
Employment Strategy
Consultation
The British Association for
Supported Employment has
published its proposals in
response to the Government's
review of its disability
employment strategy. BASE's
recommendations cover
commissioning, benefit
assessment, contracted delivery,
employer engagement, transitions
from education, and workforce
issues.
Download
the proposals from the BASE
website
Halving the Gap? A review into the Government's proposed reduction to Employment and Support Allowance and its impact on halving the disability employment gap
A review, 'Halving the gap' was published by three Peers in the House of Lords, Baroness Meacher, Baroness Grey-Thompson and Lord Low, which found “no evidence to suggest that people with disabilities can be incentivised into work by cutting their benefits”.
Download
the review 'Halving the Gap'
>
Download
the easy read version of
'Halving the Gap' >
Evermor
Solutions support for access
to
higher education
Evermor solutions provides
comprehensive support for people
who want to study at a Higher
Education Level, and have a life
changing or permanent injury,
long term physical or mental
health condition or disability.
Courses are distance learning
(online) or campus based and may
be studied either part time or
full time.
Click
here to download an
information
leaflet in pdf format
Learning Disabilities Core Skills Education and Training Framework
The learning disabilities core
skills education and training
framework has been launched.
Developed by Skills for
Health, Health Education England
(HEE) and Skills for Care,
commissioned by the Department
of Health, the framework sets
out the essential skills and
knowledge necessary for all
staff involved in learning
disability care. The framework
will enable organisations
to:
- Identify key skills and knowledge for roles and team
- Plan and design content for education and training
- Commission education and training
- Conduct training needs analysis
Download
the framework >
Effects of hearing
impairment on children with
Down’s syndrome, and what
teachers can do to
help
Stuart Mills, an Information
Officer at the Down's Syndrome
Association, writes "Hearing
loss is common in children who
have Down’s syndrome, due to
increased incidence of chronic
ear diseases, differences in the
structure of the ear and weaker
immune systems.
It is possible that teachers may
have a child in their class who
has Down’s syndrome with hearing
loss that has not been picked
up. Possible signs of hearing
loss in children with Down’s
syndrome are difficulties with
balance, poking and rubbing ears
frequently, lack of response
when their name is called and
gets upset by loud noises.
Find
out more information.
Confused about the move
from a statement to an EHC
Plan?
Special educational needs (SEN)
helpline experts, Contact a Family, have seen an increase in calls from parents asking about the move from a statement of special educational needs to the newer Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans in England.
Although the law came into place
in England on 1 September 2014,
children with statements of
special educational needs will
be assessed for an EHC plan at
different stages depending on
where they live and their
age.
Find
out more information
All you need to know
about the Special
Educational
Needs reforms
Contact a Family have published a useful overview of the special educational needs reforms (in anticipation of the new school year). This includes information on the Education, Health and Care plan, a local offer and creating a personal budget.
Find
out more information
Helping Children
with Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is
a
disability caused by brain
damage that restricts normal
movement and coordination. Each
year, 10,000 children in the
U.S. are diagnosed with cerebral
palsy. Cerebral Palsy Guide are a national organization that helps families and individuals affected by cerebral palsy. They provide free educational materials, financial options and support to help those across the country affected by cerebral palsy.
Find
out more information
Ouseburn
farm Adult
Placements
Through their informal adult
placement courses, Ouseburn farm
offers a safe and relaxing
environment with many
opportunities for people to
develop meaningful skills, that
support their vocational, health
and well-being and recreational
needs
Adults with learning disabilities
who are supported by personal
budgets are able to choose from
a selection of farm related
courses including, growing,
catering and animal projects as
well as creative training
subjects.
Find
out more information
Legal
resource will prevent
families
missing out on early years
education
A new resource has been produced to help parents access free childcare for children with disabilities aged between two and four years old. The guide, developed by legal experts Irwin Mitchell, Monckton Chambers and the charities Every Disabled Child Matters and the Family and Childcare Trust, will make it easier for parents to understand their rights around the government's free early education offer. It will also help them challenge decisions made by local authorities and childcare providers that result in their child being denied access to free childcare.
Find out more information
The
Department of Education
answers Top
10 questions on the changes
in SEN
and disability
education
Special Needs Jungle blog asked
parents to send questions about
their experiences of the new
SEND system for The Department
of Education (DoE).
These
questions were compiled in to 10
themes. The first theme, 'SEN
support', asked "There is still
confusion about how to access
specialist support in mainstream
(schools). How can you help them
with this?", to which the DoE
responded saying, "The new SEN
support system takes the form of
a four-part cycle known as the
graduated approach. For
children with a specific
learning difficulty or dyslexia,
there should be a cycle of
assessment, planning, doing and
reviewing."
Find
out more information
Excel
Learning program targets
learning
difficulties
Excel Strategic Learning Centre,
pursues the goal of helping both
children and adults overcome an
array of learning difficulties
through programs in
neuroplasticity.
The programs can range from
something as simple as
identifying shapes and colours,
to following patterns and
instructions. Each training
program includes support through
the process of regular progress
reports, recommendations for
schools and teachers, and
parental support.
Find
out more information
Children are missing out on play opportunities vital to their development
A new report by Sense reveals the
severe restrictions facing
children with disabilities in
accessing play. The report identifies failings at every level that result in children with disabilities missing out on play opportunities that are vital to their emotional, social and physical development. A lack of attention by government, insufficient funding at a local level and negative attitudes towards children with disabilities and their families are all barriers highlighted in the report.
Download the report >
If you can recommend any
information about people with
learning disabilities that would
be useful to others, please let
us know at
Top
of the page
National
Family Carer Network launches
new
website
The National Family Carer
Network, a registered charity
which links groups and families
that support people with a
learning disability together,
has developed a new website. The
new website aims to promote the
voice and rights of family
carers supporting a person with
a learning disability. It
contains useful resources and
news on events and training,
along with a 'voice of family
carers' page.
Go
to the website
HFT Family Carer Support
HFT offer support to those who
have friends or relatives with
learning disabilities. They
provide one-to-one support by
phone, email and letter and run regular workshops for family carers. They have also developed a huge range of family carer focused resources available to download for free form their website.
Go
to the website
Karen's
Page
Karen died of cancer in April
2013 when she was only 44. This
was the tragic ending to three
years of distress and worry
after Karen, who had a learning
disability was moved from
home following an assessment of
capacity under the Mental
Capacity Act 2005. Karen's
former carer set up a website
called 'Karen's Page' to inform
families of people with learning
difficulties what problems they
may encounter and help to
prevent a similar tragedy
happening to them.
Go
to the website
New guidance improves
support for parents with
learning
disabilities
Updated advice on how to work
with parents who have learning
difficulties has been issued by
the Working Together with
Parents Network (WTPN), led by
the University of Bristol.
Nadine Tilbury, Policy
Officer for the WTPN based at
the Norah Fry Centre for
Disability Studies, said, “There
was a clear need for an updated
version of the Good Practice
Guidance, and to press for
compliance with its basic
principles, so that the human
rights of parents with learning
disabilities and those of their
children are
respected. We hope the Department of Health will publish a fuller update in due course, but in the meantime, our interim version will prove helpful for professionals working in the field, and help to ensure parents with learning difficulties, and their children, can access the correct help and support they are entitled to.”
Download
the updated guidance
>
NHS launches National
Framework for Continuing
Healthcare and NHS funded
nursing care
NHS England, in conjunction with
the Association of Directors of
Adult Social Services, has
developed a range of useful
resources for family carers and
those involved in assessment and
decision making around NHS
Continuing Healthcare.
Click
here for the National
framework
for Continuing
Healthcare
See
the guide for family carers
Go
to the NHS Continuing
Healthcare
e-learning tool
The
National Family Carer
Network
The Network links groups and
organisations that support
families that include an adult
with a learning disability.
Their key objective is to work
together to promote better life
chances for families that
include someone with a learning
disability.
Find
out more on their
website.
New Keys to Life
website
To explain ‘The keys to life’,
Scotland’s learning disability
strategy, the Scottish
Government have a website which
provides information on how the
strategy is being implemented
and the progress being made on
achieving positive outcomes for
people with learning
disabilities and their families.
Go
to their website.
Hft Family Carer
Support Service
Hft’s national Family Carer
Support Service offers free
information and support for
family carers, including
workshops, news and a range of
improtant ressources for family
carers.
Find
out more.
One key resource is their guide
to the Mental Capacity Act,
developed specifically for
family and friends of people
with learning disabilities, so
they understand how the Act
affects them and those they care
about.
Find
out more and download the
MCA
Guide.
The
National Family Carer
Network and Hft have
three
information leaflets available to
download: The
Equality
Act 2010: Disabled people and
carers;
Equality
Impact Assessments; and
Personalisation
- Changes in Social Care:
Personalisation and Self
Directed Support.
Involving
families in best interest care
decisions A
leaflet published in April 2012 will
support parents who have concerns
that they are being excluded from
decisions that social care or health
professionals are making about their
adult son or daughter. These may be
decisions about where the person
lives, what care they are getting,
how they spend their time or medical
treatment.
Two letter
templates help family members who
have not been involved, or are
concerned that they will not be
involved in the best interest
decision-making process in the
future.
Download
the leaflet.
A Day
in Our Life This
is
a series of mini-films that reveal
day to day life being the parent of
a child with disabilities or
additional needs. The films are
designed to raise awareness of the
challenges, routines, hopes and joys
encountered by parents & carers
and raise awareness and
understanding amongst professionals
and the wider public.
There
is also a document to download about
parent carer participation, produced
by Newcastle City Council.
Find
out more.
Contact
a Family Contact
a
Family are a UK-wide charity
providing advice, information and
support to the parents of all
disabled children. This includes
benefits advice and a special
educational needs 'one-stop'
service.
Find
out more on their
website.
The charity’s report, 'Forgotten Families – The impact of isolation on families with disabled children across the UK', published in February 2012, shows that social, emotional and financial isolation is resulting in mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression or breakdown, for nearly three quarters of families with disabled children.
Download
the report.
Tips for dealing with
drooling from parents and
carers Excessive
drooling can have health and hygiene
implications. The skin around the
mouth, chin and neck can easily get
red and sore, the loss of fluid can
lead to dehydration, there may be
problems with eating and infections
may be more easily transmitted.
Netbuddy have compiled a
collection of tips from parents and
carers of people who have
experienced problems with drooling.
Read
the tips
Mencap - Superhero
recipes This
collection of recipes has been
selected by Mencap to help you
celebrate every day superheroes for
Learning Disability Week 2013 -
which take place from the 19th -
25th August.
These are
highly accessible recipes from some
of the finest chefs in the UK and
will give you all you need to make a
wonderful meal to say thanks to the
people that make all the difference
in your life. Most importantly
these recipes can be cooked and
enjoyed by all the family.
View
the recipes on the Mencap
website
"This Is My Child",
Mumsnet's myth-busting
guide This Is
My Child is a myth-busting and
awareness-raising campaign, launched
in response to requests from our
members and supported by input from
some of the leading charities in the
field.
Its aim is to
support parents of children with
additional needs, inform everyone
else, and open up a conversation
about how we can all act to make
life easier for everyone caring for
children with additional needs.
View
the campaign on Mumsnet
The 2014 Holiday
Information Guide
This year’s edition has
44 pages and includes sections:
Useful advice, General Guides, Tour
Operators, Places to stay – UK,
Meeting specialist health needs,
Places to stay – abroad etc.
The guide can be downloaded from this website
The Rough Guide to Accessible Britain
Available to view for free online, this gives you plenty of new ideas for accessible trips in 2013. Each review contains hints and tips from the Rough Guides team of disabled reviewers who visited each venue, looking for well thought out accessibility features and unique attractions, both of which contribute to making a great day out.
Download the Rough Guide to Accessible Britain
Personalisation for
Parents and
Carers
KIDS a charity for children with
disabilities, has launched an
e-learning package about
personalisation for parents and
carers. The package, which is
based on a handbook produced by
the charity earlier this year,
provides information about
personal budgets and how they
will be affected by recent
changes to disability benefits.
The package can be accessed and
accounts created on the KIDS
website.
Create
an account and access the
resource on the KIDS
website
Challenging a Bedroom Tax
decision
If you are affected you will
by now have received a letter
from your council telling you
about the decision. You have one
month from the date of the
letter to challenge the decision
and Carer's UK have put together
a toolkit to help.
Find
out more on the Carers UK
website
From child to adult: a guide
to disability, transition and
family finance
This free booklet has sections
for parents and carers and
disabled young people, a
step-by-step guide to better-off
calculations and a list of
useful publications,
organisations and websites. It
answers questions such as: How
are family finances affected
when a disabled child becomes an
adult? When is it most
advantageous for a young person
to start claiming their own
benefits? Can parents change
working hours to fit with a
disabled young person's new
regime?
Download
the publication
Taking Risks and
Making
Mistakes
An article published in 'The
Voice', the magazine of Down
Syndrome New South Wales and
Down Syndrome Victoria by Sharon
Paley and Mark Wakefield. Sets
out the case for parents
allowing their children to take
some risks.
The article
was also used, with additional
photographs and a video
illustrating the benefits of
taking a positive approach, in a
blog posting by Hayley
Goleniowska at the DownsSideUp
blog.
See
the blog posting.
The 2012 Holiday
Information Guide
This year’s edition has
48 pages and includes sections:
Useful advice, General Guides, Tour
Operators, Places to stay – UK,
Meeting specialist health needs,
Places to stay – abroad etc.
The guide can be downloaded here
An Ordinary
Life
As part of its project An
Ordinary Life, the Foundation
for People with Learning
Disabilities has launched a free
interactive booklet and
communication passport to help
families transform the quality
of life of their child with
complex health needs.
Find
out more on the FPLD
website
Netbuddy, the
online support
website
Netbuddy has been dubbed “the
special needs mumsnet” and
recognised with an award from
the Media Trust. It offer a
range of information, from
health advice, such as hospital
visits and links to easy-read
resources, to tips on
behavioural issues, advice on
holidays and guidance on family
issues. The site, which attracts
around 6,000 new visitors a
month, also includes
downloadable information packs
and an “ask-an-expert” forum,
with advice from a speech and
language therapist, a
behavioural support practitioner
and other professionals.
Find
out more on the Netbuddy
website
Just
Look and Cook
Just Look and Cook, a recipe book
launched in 2013, is helping to
encourage people with learning
disabilities to cook and eat
healthily. The text free
cookbook contains simple,
economical & nutritious
recipes that are presented to
the user through a series of
photographs. Each recipe
includes a detachable shopping
list and uses everyday
ingredients and basic kitchen
equipment – allowing the user to
recreate a great range of
delicious dishes no matter how
big or small their kitchen.
Recipes within the book include
firm favourites Spaghetti Bolognese, pizza and chicken curry.
For more information
NHS
Fife has recipe for success
with
cookbook for people with
learning
disabilities
NHS
Fife have created a healthy
cookbook
for kids and adults with
learning
disabilities. The pictorial
catalogue with 30 simple, cost
effective and tasty meal ideas
has
proved such a hit that other
health
boards want to use it too.
Find
out more information
Eating
well: children and adults
with
learning disabilities
This is an
evidence-based
report which summarises
available
information on the nutritional
needs
of children, young people and
adults
with learning disabilities. It
also
looks at issues around food
choice
and eating well, and provides
practical information to support
these groups and those caring
for or
supporting them.
Download
the report
The
Caroline Walker Trust
also
have a range of education
materials, not specially design
for use with people with a
learning disability but that may
be useful in working with people
around food and health.
Obesity,
physical activity and food in
the
West Midlands
The Department of
Health
West Midlands, public health and
social care teams, West Midlands
Public Health Observatory, NHS West
Midlands and PAN-WM held a workshop
in January 2010 that focused
on how to work with people with
learning difficulties to maintain a
healthy weight, participate in
physical activity and make healthy
food choices. The event was attended
by a range of specialists from the
obesity, learning disabilities,
physical activity, sport, transport,
dance, healthy eating and health
sectors. The feedback from the
workshop has been used to develop a
framework for action and an Obesity
Charter launched in January
2012.
Download
the Charter Visit
the website
Tastier than Porridge
An initiative of the Swansea
Community Chaplaincy Project,
the cook book is aimed at
individuals who may not be able
to access comprehensive cooking
facilities; it has been
developed as a tool to encourage
basic cookery skills and healthy
eating.
Download
the cookbook
Mencap - Easy read
recipes
This
collection of recipes has been
selected by Mencap to celebrate
Learning Disability Week
2013.
These are highly
accessible, easy read recipes
from some of the finest chefs in
the UK and will give you all you
need to make a wonderful meal to
say thanks to the people that
make all the difference in your
life. Most importantly
these recipes can be cooked and
enjoyed by all the family.
Download
the recipes from the Great
British Chefs website
Guidance to raise
awareness of the importance
of
good nutritional care
NHS England has published new
guidance to help ensure patients
receive excellent nutrition and
hydration care.
The guidance has been produced to
address the issues raised within
‘Hard Truths’ and the Francis
Report; and to the concerns of
patient, carers and the public
with regard to malnutrition and
dehydration.
Malnutrition
is still a concern for the
health service, affecting more
than three million people in the
UK at any one time.
Download
the Guidance -
Commissioning Excellent
Nutrition and Hydration 2015
- 2018
Cook and Eat easy read
recipe books
available
Cook and Eat easy read cook books
are a range of specially adapted
cookery books produced by the
South West Yorkshire Partnership
NHS Foundation Trust.
People
with learning disabilities
helped to make the books and
have been written so that people
with learning disabilities can
make more meals with less help.
The recipes follow a simple
structure which includes
photographs, easy words, no time
limits and an easy method.
Visit
the website for more
information
Top
of the page
The Social Care Councils
(responsible for the regulation
and registration of Social
Workers and other Social Care
Workers) are:
7
of the Best Apps for People
with
Disabilities
A collection of ground-breaking
apps that use modern technology
to help people with disabilities
around the world. These seven
apps use modern technology to
enrich the lives of people with
disabilities - from creative
aids for the blind and deaf to
new ways to make life more
manageable for people with
autism and speech disabilities.
Apps include Talkit: The app
that gives a voice to people
with speech disorder, Look at
me: The app that improves eye
contact and communication and
Hear you now: The app that
amplifies sounds.
Find
out more
information.
How can airports help
people with hidden
disabilities?
Getting through an airport can be
stressful enough at the best of
times but for people with
'hidden disabilities' like
dementia, autism and hearing
loss, it can bring extra
challenges. Ryan has autism, his
Mum spoke to 'Autism Friendly'
about the challenges faced.
Watch
the video >
The Challenging Behaviour
Foundation launches
resources
about children’s experience
of
restraint
The Challenging Behaviour
Foundation has launched a number
of resources on the Paving the
Way website around the issue of
children with learning
disabilities being restrained.
A powerful video, ‘Why
do they hurt?’ – a 5 minute film
about a young boy, Calum, who
experienced prone (face-down)
restraint at school.
Accompanying the video is a
family story by Calum’s mother,
Beth. which also describes the
campaigning work Beth was
inspired to undertake in
Scotland as a result.
There
is also blog post from a family
carer, Kate, describing the
experiences of her daughter,
Laura, and arguing for the
importance of effective
guidelines and training for
those supporting children with
learning disabilities.
Find
out more information.
Going into hospital with
a learning
disability
Going into hospital is a worrying
time for any of us. It can be
even harder for someone who has
a learning disability. If you're
looking after an adult or child
with a learning disability,
follow these tips to make a
hospital stay go smoothly. This
includes health communication
passports, to help hospital
staff know about a person's
individual needs.
Find
out more information.
Nothing Down About It: A
mother's blog on her child
with
Down's Syndrome
When Oakley found out her newborn
son, Welles, had Down syndrome,
she was overwhelmed by the news.
She struggled for the first
month, unsure how to raise a
child with Down syndrome. But as
her son grew, Oakley's strength,
positivity, and pure love for
her son compelled her to become
an advocate for him through her
blog "Nothing Down About It.
Read
her blog >
A special child in the
family: Living with your
sick or
disabled child
This free online book is for
anyone whose child is sick or
disabled or has other special
needs. Written by a parent for
parents, it talks about feelings
and how to cope with them. It
looks at ways to balance the
needs of your family, your
special child and yourself, and
it gives you parent-sized
solutions you can use yourself
to make life better. In addition
to showing you how to find and
use the help that's available,
it provides tips on making a
fuss when that help isn't as
good as it should be. And it
tackles the big taboos that no
one usually talks about, like
death and failing to cope.
Find
out more
information.
How charities can improve
by adopting co-op
principles
There has always been a gulf
between the co-operative
movement and charitable work –
but now a care sector charity
has drawn on mutual ideas to
pioneer a governance model
giving greater control to people
using its services.
The new model, created by
Learning Disability England,
could revolutionise the way
charities are run and bring them
closer to co-operativism, by
incorporating the voices of its
service users, their family and
friends and other interested
groups, says this article in
Co-Operative News. Some of the
co-op principles include
education, training and
information, concern for
community and autonomy and
independence.
Find
out more
information.
People with Down's
syndrome answer
uncomfortable
questions
- Can adults with Down's
syndrome live on their
own?
- Can they have a job?
- Can they drive?
- Can children with Down's
syndrome learn to read or
ride a bike?
These are some of the difficult
questions on the minds of
prospective parents who have
just been told their unborn
child will likely have Down's
syndrome. The Canadian Down's
Syndrome Society searched the
most asked questions online
about Down's syndrome and
launched a new campaign to
answer them. The questions are
answered in 40 unscripted
YouTube videos featuring adults
and children with Down's
syndrome.
Find
out more information
>
Introduction of
Travel Support Card
London Midland has introduced a
travel support card to make it
easier for some passengers to
get assistance from their staff.
Anyone who finds travelling
difficult can carry a Travel
Support Card, which was bought
into being after requests from
self advocacy groups Speakers
Corner and Speak Easy.
Find
out more information.
VirtuAssist:
The virtual assistant for
learning
and working
VirtuAssist guides users with
learning disabilities on how to
operate complex equipment and
conduct tasks efficiently in
learning and working
environments while keeping their
hands free.
VirtuAssist's
services are provided through
two tools: a website for
supervisors/trainers/family and
a smart glass application to
present the step-by-step guides
in a fun, hand-free and adapted
way to the users.
Find
out
more information.
NHS England Board
Meeting, update paper on
Transforming Care
The purpose of this paper is to
inform the Board on 28 July of
the progress made to transform
care for people with a learning
disability and/or autism.
Download
the paper >
View
the agenda and board papers
>
Transforming Care
Partnerships tasked with
designing new high quality
services
Local plans to transform care for
people with a learning
disability and/or autism have
been published, backed by
millions of pounds of dedicated
funding announced by health and
care leaders.
Download
the funding and summary TCP
plans >
NHS Standard affirms
accessible information for
patients with
disabilities
People with disabilities will
benefit from improved health and
care after new requirements,
ensuring they receive easily
accessible information and
support.
The Accessible Information
Standard aims to ensure that
people who have a disability,
impairment or sensory loss are
provided with information that
they can easily read or
understand with support so they
can communicate effectively with
services. Examples of the types
of support that might be
required include large print,
braille or using a British Sign
Language (BSL) interpreter.
Find
out more
information.
Beyond Words picture
story App
launched
Beyond Words has gone mobile and
created a new app to enrich the
lives of people with learning
disabilities. The BW Story App
holds over 400 short picture
stories and 1800+ pictures from
across an entire back catalogue.
The app is designed to help
people access better care and
support, empower and inform,
help people communicate,
increase confidence and share
stories.
Find
out more information.
ARC England - FREE
Helping Each Other Training
Materials
Helping Each Other was a three
year project, funded by Comic
Relief. The innovative project
trained 12 young people with
learning disabilities who have
experienced sexual exploitation,
to become peer trainers, and
supported them to deliver
awareness sessions to 200 other
young people with learning
disabilities.
They were
also supported to make
presentations at conferences and
workshops, and to groups of
professionals. As part of the
project, materials were
developed that can be used
independently to raise awareness
about sexual exploitation with
more young people with learning
disabilities.
These
can be downloaded here
>
Guidance launched to
prevent deaths in healthcare
settings
Nurses and healthcare workers
have been issued with new
guidance on caring for people
with learning disabilities. The
toolkit provides advice on
health issues ranging from how
to take someone's temperature to
how to resuscitate them.
It has been drawn up by
Turning Point with the aim of
helping services improve the
physical health of people with
learning disabilities and their
quality of life.
The
guidance highlights early
warning signs to enable workers
to support people to access
their GP earlier. This will help
to avoid hospital admissions,
escalation of health issues and
support individuals to be as
healthy as possible.
Find
out more
information.
Calling all makers,
hackers and users: help
create
the world’s first open
source
wheelchair
Across the globe, millions of
people who need wheelchairs
don’t have one or don’t have one
that’s suitable for their needs.
Hack On Wheels is building an
online community to fix this
problem by creating open source
designs focused on the needs of
users. They believe that anyone
who needs a wheelchair should be
able to access one that is fully
customized to their individual
needs. They believe that digital
fabrication, open hardware and
the maker movement can change
this.
Find
out more
information.
Leka: Special smart robot
for special needs
children
Leka is an educational robot that
helps children with special
needs to develop social, motor
and cognitive skills through
games and interaction.
Leka
is designed to do the same thing
every single time to give the
user a sense of safety and
stability, but still manages to
keep the child's attention and
provide entertainment with its
fun and educational activities.
Games include hide and seek,
picture bingo and memory games.
Find
out more >
Watch
the video >
Sense launches new
service to help with benefit
application forms
Sense has launched a new service
to assist deafblind individuals
and their families and carers,
with queries that they have in
relation to the completion of
benefit claim forms.
The
service, which has been
developed specifically for
individuals with multi-sensory
impairments and complex needs,
will offer tailored support and
assistance in relation to
queries that arise whilst
individuals and their supporters
are completing applications for
benefits such as Personal
Independence Payment, Attendance
Allowance and Employment and
Support Allowance.
Find
out more
information.
Supporting adults to have
a hearing test – tips for
carers
Dr Lynzee McShea, Senior Clinical
Scientist Audiology, finds it
very helpful when a carer
supports a person to attend an
appointment and brings
information that can help
complete the assessment.
She writes, "It helps if the
carer can think about their own
conversations with the person
attending the appointment. Do
you use gestures to communicate
with that person? Do they
respond better if they can see
your face? Hearing is more
complex than it first appears,
and can sometimes be difficult
to spot without these
observations."
More
tips for carers >
How to write a model letter
The Independent Parental Special
Education Advice have devised
model letters for 7 situations
where you may need to write to
your local authority.
They are: To request an
Education, Health and Care needs
assessment; To request a re-assessment; To respond to the draft EHC plan sent by the LA; Objecting to the amendments the LA is proposing to an existing EHC plan; Asking for an early review of an EHC plan; Complaining when the special educational provision on the EHC plan is not being made; Complaining when an EHC needs assessment is not being carried out properly and Complaining when the LA has not completed the annual review of an Education and Health Plan.
Find out more information
Nearly two million
patients to receive
person-centred support to
manage
their own care
NHS England has agreed a deal
which will grant nearly two
million people access to more
person-centred care as part of
its developing Self Care
programme. Local NHS
organisations and their partners
are being invited to apply for
free access to patient
activation licences, which will
help them assess and build their
patients’ knowledge, skills and
confidence, empowering people to
make decisions about their own
health and care.
The Patient Activation Measure
(PAM) is a validated tool which
captures the extent to which
people feel engaged and
confident in taking care of
their health and wellbeing. By
measuring people’s activation
levels through PAM,
organisations can ‘meet people
where they are’ and tailor
support and services to the
individual’s needs.
Find
out more information
Expert tips on how
to improve your best
interests
assessor reports
For best interests assessors
(BIAs), being able to thoroughly
explain and evidence their
conclusions about whether
someone is being deprived of
their liberty in their best
interests is vital because their
report might be used in court.
Community Care Inform Adult’s
new guide to report writing for
best interests assessors is full
of advice. 'Be aware of your
audience' and 'record
everything' are a few of the
guide’s tips to help BIAs polish
their reports.
More
in Community Care >
'Deciding right app' for
professionals to aid in
making
care decisions in
advance
The NHS Deciding right app which
is part of the Deciding right
programme in the north east,
Cumbria and London. The app is a
guide to support any health or
social care professional through
the process of making care
decisions in advance for people
who will or may lose capacity in
the future, who have already
lost capacity for those
decisions or never had
capacity.
The app has now been extensively revised and updated throughout and includes new sections on Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and withdrawing life sustaining devices.
Find out more information
Disabled Children: A
Legal Handbook 2nd
edition
Disabled children: a legal
handbook is an authoritative yet
accessible guide to the legal
rights of disabled children and
their families in England and
Wales. The authors expertly
navigate the many, often
overlapping, sources of law,
explaining the difference
between what public bodies must
do to support disabled children
and that which they may do.
Each chapter has been adapted into a PDF for you to download for free here >
The fight for
respite
“It's hard to quantify just how
important short breaks are to
us. They are a lifeline. Our son
is entirely dependent upon us
for all his needs and it is
relentless. We had respite
provision up until October last
year and when I heard we had
lost it – due to the changing
needs of our son – I cried.
Respite is our safety valve.
Without it my nerves shred. It
allows us to breathe out and
gives us time to relax, away
from the constant worry of ‘Is
he OK?’ and ‘Will he not be OK
in a minute?’
Article
in SEN Magazine >
Launch of IAPT Positive
Practice
Guide
The Foundation for People with
Learning Disabilities (FPLD), in
partnership with National IAPT-
NHS England, is launching the
'Positive Practice Guide for
Learning Disability'.
It provides useful information
regarding how best to support
people with learning
disabilities to access their
local IAPT service, including
numerous practical examples of
how to make reasonable
adjustments to achieve this.
Download
the Practice
Guide.
Guide to help schools
promote equality
Equality: Making It Happen can
help schools address prejudice,
reduce bullying and promote
equality holistically. Succinct
reference cards, covering all
equality strands and aspects of
school life, offer key
information, practical advice
and suggested activities,
examples of good practice,
equality monitoring tools and
sources of further information
and support. More
>
'All parts of the system
should work together to
improve
commissioning', says
Voluntary
Organisations Disability
Group
Speaking on the launch of a new
report, 'Together we can deliver
more effective commissioning and
de-commissioning for people with
learning disabilities and
autism', VODG chief executive,
Dr Rhidian
Hughes, said, "For too long the
barriers preventing
de-commissioning of
inappropriate learning
disability and autism services
have been left unchanged and unchallenged.
Download
the report.
CQC to inspect services
less often due to cuts in
funding over next few years
The Care Quality Commission plans
to inspect adult social care
services less often and
concentrate on providers of
greatest risk ahead of an
anticipated cut in its
budget.
In a draft strategy for 2016-21
released this week for
consultation, the CQC proposed a
“risk-based” approach where it
would focus on inspecting
services deemed to be more of a
risk to the public, based on
better intelligence gathering
about service quality.
More
information.
Download
the CQC’s draft
strategy
2016 to 2021 - Shaping the
future: consultation
document.
Celebrating independence
Jenny Bennett has released her own book, “From long stay hospital to nightclub”, published by Changing Our Lives.
The book charts Jenny’s life,
which began with 19 years living
in institutions ranging from a
children’s home, a long stay
hospital and a short stay in an
assessment and treatment unit,
to her life now, night clubbing,
living in her own home, choosing
her own staff, taking risks and
loving her independence.
Read Jenny's book >
New movement puts respect
at the heart of accessible
tourism
Tourism is for Everybody
encourages individuals,
businesses & policy makers
to pull together to deliver a
warmer welcome for ALL visitors,
including those with some form
of impairment.
Chairman
Tim Gardiner explains “It’s not
just about legislation and
infrastructure, it’s about
awareness and respect. A little
effort from tourism
professionals can make a massive
difference.” Free Tourism is for
Everybody toolkits are available
for businesses and the website
includes a helpful section for
people looking for advice on
stress free travelling.
Find
out more
information
How women with learning
difficulties cope with their
periods
In UK primary schools, teachers
give period lessons where
students are given tampons,
sanitary towels and a small
lecture about why and when girls
bleed, and what to do about it.
The lesson is a bit different
for girls with learning
difficulties.
For
example, it's not just a one-off
lesson but often a big part of
the girls' education. Carers and
teachers often write stories or
draw pictures to describe the
process. This example, posted on
The
Women’s International
Perspective,
outlines the way one girl,
Katie, with autism started to
learn about periods – through a
story written by her teacher.
Find
out more
Ensure
your loved one has a safe
and secure
future
‘Safe and Secure', a book
produced by Thera Trust, gives
step-by-step advice to ensure
people have a safe and secure
future surrounded by people who
care about them when family,
friends and carers are not
around. The book intends to
allay fears and address various
hoops people with special needs
may encounter in their lifetime.
Find
out more information on the
website.
Care
Quality Commission
The job of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is to check whether hospitals, care homes and care services are meeting government standards. You can see reports on inspections of care homes and hospitals on their website. They also protect the interests of vulnerable people, including those whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act.
Find
out more on the CQC website.
Social
Care Institute of Excellence
(SCIE) The SCIE
website has lots of information and
reports of use to people providing
support to people with learning
disabilities.
Find
out more on the SCIE
website.
Social Care TV
Social Care TV is an online
service commissioned and
produced by SCIE for everyone
involved in social care and
social work.
You can watch the videos online
or download them for use in
presentations or training
events. All videos include
supporting material and related
information to help you put what
you see into practice.
Find
out more and watch some videos
on the Social Care TV
website.
Find Me Good
Care The Social
Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)
is developing a website that will
help people to make choices about
care. FindMeGoodCare.co.uk will
cover all types of care and support
for adults including regulated and
unregulated services in England. It
will provide links to specialist
websites (including local services,
specialist and independent financial
advisers). The site will go live
summer 2012 and will provide
information about services for all
adults.
You
can register your interest on
the Find Me Good Care website
prior to launch.
Reducing
the confusion around
employing a
personal assistant
The tax implications of employing
a PA are significant. A new
guide seeks to help direct
payment users to manage them,
says Colin Bruce. The article
covers uncertainty on areas
including type of employment,
real time information, workplace
pensions and national minimum
wage.
Find
out more on the Community
Care website.
Involving
families in workforce
development
‘Good practice in involving
families in your workforce
development' was a project to
identify good practice of
involving family carers of
people with a learning
disability in workforce
development.
A report collating seven examples
from local authorities, health,
training and support providers
and identifying common
principles of good practice is
now available to download.
It details how involving families
in workforce development can
support organisations achieve
CQC outcomes, and can help
organisations have a healthier,
more committed and involved
workforce, save money and
develop supportive relationships
with families built on
trust.
Download
a copy of the report.
Organisations that can help if
you have to make a
complaint:
Independent Complaints
Advocacy Service
(ICAS)
provides independent support to
people wishing to complain about
treatment in the NHS. Three
providers deliver ICAS in
different parts of the country:
The Parliamentary and
Health Ombudsman
carries out independent
investigations into complaints
about UK government departments
and the NHS in England in order
to help improve public services:
www.ombudsman.org.uk
For more information on making a
complaint to the regulators in
England, Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland go to:
Raising
a concern with CQC
A
Care Quality Commission leaflet
about what to do if you have
concerns about what is happening
where you work. When the concern
feels serious because it might
affect patients or people receiving
care, colleagues or your whole
organisation, it can be difficult to
know what to do. This leafet sets
out the steps you should take.
Find
out more on the CQC website.
The
Whistleblowing Helpline
The whistle-blowing helpline for
NHS staff and staff and
employers in the social care
sector. The helpline
service is free, independent and
confidential.
The helpline number is 08000 724
725 and operates on weekdays
between 08.00 and 18.00 with an
out-of-hours answering service
available at weekends and on
public holidays. A web-based
service is also being
developed.
You can contact the helpline if
you have concerns but are unsure
how to raise them or simply want
advice on best practice.
Find
out more on the
Whisleblowing
Helpline website
The core principles:
Ensuring quality
services As
part of their new strategy the
Winterbourne View Joint Improvement
Programme has published a new
document: "Ensuring quality
services: core principles for the
commissioning of services for
children, young people, adults and
older people with learning
disabilities and/or autism who
display or are at risk of displaying
behaviour that challenges."
Download
the full document
Download
the Easy Read version of the
document
PCPLD
Network
The Palliative Care for
People with Learning
Disabilities Network website is
a reciprocal way of sharing
information. The aim is to
promote excellence and
networking in end of life care
for people with learning
disabilities.
The website is for anyone who is
interested in promoting
excellent palliative and end of
life care for people with
learning disabilities. Members
are mostly professionals, but
also include some (family)
carers, and some people with
learning disabilities.
Visit
the PCPLD Network
website
New guide to help people
exercise their
freedom
Written by Dr Simon Duffy,
Freedom, published by the Centre
for Welfare Reform, offers
practical advice on how to offer
support while enabling people
with learning disabilities to
exercise freedom of choice as
much as possible.
View the guide online
Management Induction
Standards
The Skills for Care adult
social care Manager Induction
Standards (MIS) set out clearly
what a new manager needs to know
and understand.
They
are aimed at those new to
management as well as those new
in post who have previously
managed other care services.
They are also intended for
aspiring or potential managers
to help support their
development, although evidence
of having met some of the
standards will require actual
management experience.
The
standards can to be used in a
wide range of settings,
including people who manage
their own services and
micro-employers, as well as
small, medium and large
organisations across the public,
private and voluntary sectors.
Download
the new standards from the
Skills for Care website
Top
of the page
All UK legislation can be
downloaded from
www.legislation.gov.uk
You can find policies and reports
for the nations of the UK
at:
There is a full listing of all
Government departments on the DirectGov
website.
The Equality Act 2010:
the impact on disabled
people
The House of Lords Select
Committee Report on the
'Equality Act 2010: the impact
on disabled people' has been
published. The Select Committee
took evidence in 2015 from over
140 people with disabilities,
family members, politicians and
a wide range of organisations.
The committee's report has
resulted in five critical
conclusions.
Download
the report >
Download
the Easy Read version of the
report >
The Equality
Act, making equality real
Download
the Easy Read guide to the
Equality Act.
Voting in the EU
referendum
The Brandon Trust has produced a
video guide to the EU referendum
to encourage everybody to take
the opportunity to vote. People
who receive support from Brandon
asked for more information about
the debate and voting, so our
Involvement team set to work on
making an accessible film,
aiming to outline the key
arguments and the process from
joining the voting register, to
putting a cross in the box.
The language used when
discussing referendums is rarely
accessible so in the video, Beth
Richards, Brandon’s Involvement
Assistant, explains the
important terms.
Watch
the video here >
Voting in the EU
Referendum: Easy
Read
An easy read version of voting in
the EU referendum is now
available. "A referendum is a
single vote on a special issue.
A referendum is held sometimes to help the government make a very important decision. They ask a question and you vote for the answer you agree with. The question is: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?”
Find out more information.
Brexit report highlights
‘concerns and opportunities’
for
people with
disabilities
A report setting out both the
'concerns and opportunities' for
people with disabilities in the
aftermath of Brexit has been
released by leading disability
charity Papworth Trust.
The 64-page document, entitled
‘Brexit – What next for disabled
people?’, aims to raise
awareness of the various issues
coming out of the UK’s decision
to leave the European Union in
June. Social care, accessible
housing, welfare and education
are all debated with the charity
calling on the Department for
Exiting the European Union to
work closely with voluntary
sector representatives to
consider the wider implications
for disabled people.
Download
the report >
Ours to own: Your
human rights
A
booklet about human rights and
what they mean for you.
Download
the Easy Read Guide to the
Human Right Act.
The Office for Disability
Issues (ODI)
The
Office for Disability Issues
(ODI) leads the government’s
vision of achieving equality for
disabled people. They are a
cross-government organisation
that works with government
departments, disabled people and
a wide range of external groups.
Find
out more about their work,
and a wide range of
information and resources,
on their website.
Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards
Factsheet
Age UK has produced a factsheet that looks at the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which relates to people who are placed in care homes or hospitals for their care or treatment. This factsheet covers: what deprivation of liberty means; the required procedure for authorising a potential deprivation of liberty; what you can do if you are concerned that someone is being unlawfully deprived of their liberty; and the required procedures and protections available once someone has been deprived of their liberty.
Download
the factsheet
NHS develops an
Information Standard for
accessible
information
The NHS have developed an
Information Standard for
accessible information. This
guidance will tell organisations
how they should ensure that
patients with disabilities and
carers receive information in
formats that they can
understand.
Go
to their website
Guidance
to protect people with
learning
disabilities from forced
marriage
This guidance, from the
Government's Forced Marriage
Unit, was developed in
conjunction with learning
disability charities the Ann
Craft Trust and the Judith
Trust. Research carried out by
the charities suggests that
people with learning
disabilities are at risk of
being forced into marriage, and
are less likely to report the
abuse.
Each year, the Forced Marriage
Unit deals with over 1600
reports of forced marriage.
Since August 2009, at least 58
cases have involved people with
learning disabilities.
For more details about the Forced
Marriage Unit and to download a
copy of the Multi-Agency
Practice Guidelines go
to their website.
This guidance builds on the
easy-read booklet aimed at
people with learning
disabilities ‘Am I being forced
to marry?’ available at www.forcedtomarry.com
published by the charity Respond
and the Forced Marriage Unit.
The
Equality Act 2010 - What do I
need
to know?
This Disability Quick
Start Guide - produced by the
Government Equalities Office - tells
you how the Equality Act 2010
changes how you have to act in order
to prevent and address disability
discrimination and
disability-related harassment when
you provide goods, facilities and
services to the public, for example
as a residential care home,
community shop or after-school club.
Download
the guide.
SEN: Preparing for the
Future
Fair treatment for children
with Special Educational Needs
(SEN) is being called for by the
Local Government Ombudsman (LGO)
in a new report. The report,
SEN: Preparing for the Future,
urges that children with SEN,
and their families, must be
treated fairly and receive the
support to which they are
entitled. It highlights a number
of stories where pupils are
being unlawfully excluded from
school and being denied
specialist support.
Download
a full copy of the
report
What
councils need to know about
people with learning
disabilities ‘What
Councils Need to Know about People
with Learning Disabilities', the
first Local Government Knowledge
Navigator Evidence Review, is
available to download now.
The
new ‘Need to Know' review series
will provide local government with
accessible, relevant and reliable
knowledge, coupled with the
necessary ‘navigation' aids to route
people to what is available to meet
these requirements.
Download
the "Need to Know"
review
Strategic role
for the CDC
The
Council for Disabled Children
have been appointed as SEN and
disability Strategic Reform
Partner to the Department for
Education. They will be
developing information
highlighting key aspects of the
reform process in order to
support the engagement of a
broad range of stakeholders.
Read more in the CDC's newsletter
The
impact of cuts to the
DLA
A
graphic illustration produced by
United Response, showing very
clearly how cuts will affect
people with disabilities and
their families.
View
the graphic illustration on
the United Response
website
How Parliament
Works
Three
easy-read guides provide short
introductions to what parliament
does:
“How Laws are
Made” explains how the Houses of
Parliament make laws, including
the readings, committee and
report stages in the House of
Commons and House of Lords.
“You and Your MP” explains
what MPs can and can’t do for
their constituents and how MSPs,
Assembly Members and MLAs can
help in Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland.
Finally,
“About Select Committees”
explains the role of these small
groups of MPs or Peers in
looking closely at the
government’s work and anything
else that parliament decides
needs addressing.
Download
the easy-read guides
Smile! Stop Hate Crime
Smile! Stop Hate Crime, a project run by Nottingham Mencap, has created an interactive and fun learning pack to help people with learning disabilities to keep safe in the community. The pack contains a DVD with resources, clips and a printed guide designed to help support the running of sessions on disability hate crime and keeping safe: at home, on the street, when using transport and most importantly of all with other people.
For a copy of the DVD go to their website.
'Government Hate Crime
Action Plan does not go far
enough to protect
people'
The government hate crime action
plan represents a positive step
forward but does not go far
enough to tackle hate crime
perpetrated against those with a
learning disability, the chief
executive of a service provider
has said.
The Action Plan, will commit the
government to work to give young
people and teachers the tools
they need to tackle hatred and
prejudice, including through a
new programme to equip teachers
to facilitate conversations
around international events and
the impact they have on
communities here in the UK.
Download
the action plan >
Find
out more
information.
Disability
Hate Crime Reporting
Book Home
office
easy read booklet about reporting
disability hate crime.
Open
it or download it. There
is also a reporting form to use of
you are the victim of disability
hate crime.
Open
it or download it.
Challenging
the media and staying safe
online
The Foundation for People with
Learning Disabilities are
calling for a change to the
language used about people with
learning disabilities and the
way they are represented in the
media, in order to tackle the
increase in bullying, harassment
and hate crime. They have
produced two guides to provide
tips and advice to help people
with learning disabilities stay
safe, Staying Safe on Social
Media and Staying Safe Out and
About. The Foundation has also
developed a guide for
broadcasters to help them
improve how they represent
people with learning
disabilities in the
media.
Find
out more
Guides to help stop
disability hate
crime
Disability hate crime guidance
documents launched in February
2012 to raise awareness of
disability-related harassment
and hate crime and how to report
it.
The guides are part of a joint
project between the Office for
Disability Issues and Disability
Rights UK.
The
guidance documents are
available
here
Hidden
in Plain Sight
Equality and Human Rights
Commission report published in
September 2011, of a formal
Inquiry into the actions of
public authorities to eliminate
disability-related harassment
and its causes.
Read
about the Inquiry and the
report
on their website.
Crown
Prosecution Service guidance
on Hate
Crime
The Crown Prosecution have
produced a leaflet introducing
the CPS policy for prosecuting
cases of disability hate crime,
there is an easy read version. They
also have a policy statement
explaining the way that the
Crown Prosecution Service deals
with cases of disability hate
crime and guidance for
prosecutors when dealing with
such cases.
These
documents are all available
on
their website.
Mencap's
'Stand by Me'
campaign
14 police services across England
took part in research into how
police respond to disability
hate crime. This was carried out
by The Office for Public
Management (OPM). We found
that although some police forces
had good policies for tackling
hate crime against a person with
a learning disability, others
needed to improve.
View
the Mencap web page where
you
can download the report and
an
easy read version.
May 2013: Disability
Hate Crime Guide
Until, the majority of these
crimes are reported there will
never be a true picture of the
prevalence of disability hate
crime in this country and
nothing will change says
Disability Rights UK, who have
published Let’s Stop Disability
Hate Crime A guide for disabled
people.
Download
the guide from the
Disability
Rights UK
website
Top
of the page
Me
at Mealtimes
Me at Mealtimes, an easy read
booklet written by specialist
speech and language therapist
Susan Guthrie, has been designed
to help make eating more
enjoyable and fun for those who
find mealtimes difficult. The
book encourages people to score
their mealtimes using the Me
at Mealtimes
scorecard
and
provides advice on who to
contact for help with eating,
drinking or swallowing problems.
Download
Me at Mealtimes
Cervical screening
(smear tests) save lives –
let’s talk about
it!
Women with a learning disability are far less likely to take the test than most women. This might be because some carers, parents or health professionals do not think women with a learning disability need one or because they do not know that they are sexually active. They may also be too embarrassed to talk about it and not know enough about the test.
Women 25 and over are invited to
cervical screening. All women,
whether they are in a
relationship and having sex or
not, should attend.
Attending a smear test when
invited can save people's lives.
Women with learning disabilities
should be supported to make this
happen.
Find out more information: http://bit.ly/2jsgDCZ
Having a smear test - What is it
about? Download the easy read
version: http://bit.ly/2jU2bXJ
NHS easy guide to cervical
screening. Download: http://bit.ly/2jsmzMr
The Smear Test Film. Watch the
video: http://bit.ly/2j9aGtT
The flu jab for people
with learning
disabilities
NHS England are offering free flu
jabs for individuals with a
learning disability. Watch
Camilla, who has a learning
disability, get her flu jab, here
>
Flu resources
Here are materials, specifically
learning disabilities
focussed:
Easy Read flu leaflet: ‘All about flu and how to stop getting it’
Easy
Read childhood nasal flu
leaflet
Audio
version of the campaign
leaflet
ER version of the campaign
leaflet (professional
print
ready and
web
accessible)
British
sign language
leaflet
A short video has been
produced to play in waiting
rooms. Watch
the video
>
Easy read resources
on cancer
available
Macmillan Cancer Support have a
range of easy read resources
about cancer for people with
learning disabilities on their
website. The resources, produced
by CHANGE, include information
on 'what is cancer', 'signs of
cancer', 'screening for cancer',
'cancer types' and 'tests for
cancer'.
Find
out more information.
Learning
disabilities: identifying
and managing mental health
problems quality standard by
NICE
This
quality standard, by NICE,
covers the prevention,
assessment and management of
mental health problems in people
with learning disabilities in
all settings. It describes
high-quality care in priority
areas for improvement
Download
>
Good clinical practices
important to treat
Alzheimer’s
in people with Down's
syndrome
More research is essential to
improve protocols for diagnosing
Alzheimer’s disease in people
with Down's syndrome, but the
ability to identify and care for
those patients is enhanced
significantly if clinicians are
aware of specific circumstances
and use a multi-disciplinary
treatment strategy. Those
findings are included in a study
titled
'Challenges faced in
managing dementia in
Alzheimer’s disease in
patients with Down
syndrome'. The study
highlights the need for more
research on managing Alzheimer’s
disease in this group of
patients, as very few robust
clinical studies are available.
However, it emphasizes that
quality care for people with
both Down's syndrome and
Alzheimer’s is possible if good
clinical practice guidelines are
followed. In this study,
scientists from the Birmingham
Learning Disability
Service at Birmingham
Community Healthcare NHS
Foundation Trust in the
U.K. placed the spotlight on the
particular issues that
physicians and caretakers should
taken into account when managing
Alzheimer’s dementia in people
with Down.
Find out more information.
In partnership with Alzheimer’s Society, BILD have two Easy Read factsheets on dementia for people with learning disabilities.
My Future and End of Life
Care Plan
This
is a plan put together by St
Luke's Hospice with Plymouth
People First Self Advocacy group
to help people to talk about
their future and end of life
care choices and includes
sensitive issues such as funeral
planning and organ donation.
Download
the plan.
Download
guidance for support staff.
Download
feedback form.
An Easy Read Guide: 'I
Have Fragile X
Syndrome'
The Fragile X Society have
produced a new easy-read
publication, 'I Have Fragile X
Syndrome, produced for
individuals with fragile X. The
publication looks at various
aspects of fragile X, giving and
overview of its characteristics.
It also includes some practical
strategies for managing anxiety,
making friends, meeting people,
and learning.
Their
family support workers worked to
ensure that this booklet is
accessible to everyone. They
partnered with Change People (an
inclusive organisation creating
opportunities for individuals
with learning disabilities) to
produce bespoke pictures and
symbols.
Find
out more
information.
Humber NHS Foundation
Trust trials 'My Health
Guide'
app
Two hundred people with learning
disabilities have become the
first in the UK to trial a new
app aimed at improving their
quality of life. 'My Health
Guide' allows people to capture
video, record voice messages and
show photographs of their lives
and the people important to them
alongside vital information
about their healthcare. Humber
NHS Foundation Trust has become
the first in the country to
introduce the app so people with
mild to moderate learning
disabilities communicate more
effectively with care teams.
Find
out more
information.
Health and Care of People
with Learning Disabilities:
Experimental Statistics:
2014 to
2015
People with learning disabilities
have poorer health and shorter
life expectancy than those
without shows the largest
dataset of its kind, published
by NHS Digital. And the
proportion given an annual
health check varies
considerably, depending on age
and GP practice location. The
preliminary report, which
includes data from almost half
of all GP practices in England
in 2014-15, represents 51% of
all patients registered,
including 127,351 people with a
learning disability and
28,832,342 people without. This
makes it the largest study ever
conducted into the health of
people with learning
disabilities in England.
Download
the report >
Health needs of people
with learning disabilities:
issues and
solutions
Many people with learning
disabilities are not getting
their annual health check,
facing increased risk factors to
a number of diseases as a
result. This article, written by
Consultant Nurse Learning
(Intellectual) Disabilities Jim
Blair and published in in The
British Journal of Family
Medicine, considers what more
can be done to help those most
at risk.
Find
out more information
Practice guidelines for
psychotropic drug
prescribing
The Faculty of Psychiatry of
Intellectual Disability, part of
The Royal College of
Psychiatrists, has published
practice guidelines for
psychotropic drug prescribing
for people with intellectual
disability, mental health
problems and/or behaviours that
challenge. 'Consent-to-treatment
procedures (or best-interests
decision-making processes)
should be followed and
documented', was listed as one
of the standards for the
prescription of a psychotropic
drug.
Find
out more information
NICE guideline on the transition
between inpatient hospital settings and community or care home settings for adults with social care needs
This guideline covers the
transition between inpatient
hospital settings and community
or care homes for adults with
social care needs. It aims to
improve people's experience of
admission to, and discharge
from, hospital by better
coordination of health and
social care services.
Download
the NICE
guideline
Easy read leaflet on pneumonia
Pneumonia is an infection that
makes the tiny air sacs in your
lungs inflamed (swollen and
sore). They then fill with
liquid. The Foundation for
People with Learning
Disabilities have funded the
production of an easy read
leaflet on pneumonia. The guide
includes the definition, the
symptoms, the diagnosis, the
treatment, complications and
prevention of
pneumonia.
Download
the Learning Disabilities
guide on Pneumonia
Healthier Scotland
Conversation
A report has been published about
the findings of SCLD’s
consultation with people with
learning disabilities at four
recent events around the
Scottish Government's 'Healthier
Scotland Conversation'.
Read the report.
NICE
guidelines to prevent
overmedication
NICE is recommending that people
with a learning disability and
behaviour that challenges only
receive antipsychotic medication
as part of treatment that
includes psychosocial
interventions.
In its new Quality Standards,
QS101 ‘Learning disabilities:
challenging behaviour’, NICE
warns of the risk of
overmedication for people with
learning disabilities due to
carers having a lack of support
from professionals.
Read
the NICE Guidelines in full
To
know or not to know: Being
alert – Why it helps to know
in advance if your next
patient has a learning
disability.
Identifying people with learning
disabilities, or intellectual
disabilities, can be problematic
and lead to misinterpretations
or varying expectations of a
person’s ability, as well as
enhancing the possibility of
clinical risks.
Setting up a system including
alerts, annual health checks and
a hospital/health passport
(card, video, photographic) will
enable professionals to adapt
their service in such a way that
makes the outcome of the
appointment, clinic, procedure
etc. likely to enhance the
quality of health interactions,
diagnosis and outcomes.
More
information is available
here
Personal health budgets
have a positive impact on
peoples quality of
life
The findings of the third
personal outcomes evaluation
tool of over 500 personal health
budget holders and carers have
been published by In Control,
Lancaster University and Think
Local Act Personal.
Over three quarters of carers said that having a personal health budget had improved day to day stress, the quality of life of the carer, the quality of life of the person, and degree of choice and control the carer has in life.
The
findings are available to
download here
Readmission to hospital
for people with learning
disabilities
A
study by the Journal of
Intellectual Disability
Research, found that complex
discharge planning for people
with learning disabilities may
be lacking, resulting in them
being readmitted to hospital for
the same issue when this could
potentially have been avoided.
The
key findings of the report
are
available here
Improving support for
people with learning
disabilities in
hospital
Working together 2 is an update
of the Working together guide
published in 2008 to help
hospital staff, family members
and paid support staff work
jointly towards the end of any
hospital admission. The guide
highlights how to improve
support for people with learning
disabilities in hospital and
includes practical suggestions
along with links to further
resources.
The
guide is free and available
to
download here
Royal College of Nursing
easy read leaflets
The Royal College of Nursing Pain
and Palliative Care Forum have
created three easy read patient
information leaflets which cover
Epidurals, Patient Controlled
Analgesia and pain after
surgery.
Download:
Special Inquiry into poor
discharge from health
services
by Healthwatch
England
Healthwatch England has launched
a report on the special inquiry
on poor and unsafe discharge,
"Safely home: What happens when
people leave hospital and care
settings?" The report highlights
some of the key areas where
patients and care users feel
like they have been let down.
Healthwatch England found that
"when discharge goes wrong, it
comes at significant cost, both
to individuals and to the health
and social care
system."
The report can be downloaded here
Having a smear test -
what is it about?
'Having a smear test - what is it
about' is a new resource from
Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust about
the importance of smear tests.
The easy read booklet details
who should go to a smear test,
what to expect when being
examined and how the test
protects against certain
cancers. The guide was designed
to help break down the barriers
that prevent women with learning
disabilities attending their
screening
The
guide is free and available
to
download here
Be clear on
cancer
Be clear on cancer, a campaign
run by the NHS, have published
an easy read guide to let people
know about cancer of the
oesophagus and stomach. The
booklet is full of helpful
advice and helps to inform
people what cancer is and who is
most at risk of getting it. It
also provides information on
spotting the signs of cancer;
such as having heartburn for
over 3 weeks and feeling or
being sick or losing weight for
no reason.
The
guide is available to
download
here
Getting the sums right
Getting the sums right - How to
sustainably finance personal
health budgets is a new briefing
paper published by the NHS
Confederation this month in
partnership with Think Local Act
Personal. The 11-page document
includes case studies from
organisations which have already
introduced personal health
budgets and sets out how
organisations can address
financial challenges when
implementing them.
Download
the briefing paper
here
Death
by Indifference: 74 deaths and
counting
This Mencap report, published in
February 2012, looks at what
progress has been made since the
publication of Mencap’s original
‘Death by indifference’ report
in 2007.
It confirms that, although some
positive steps have been taken
in the NHS, many health
professionals are still failing
to provide adequate care to
people with a learning
disability.
Download
the report from the Mencap
website.
NAS creates hospital
passport
The National Autistic Society has
created a passport to be used in
hospital by people with autism
who need treatment. The passport
is designed to help people with
autism to communicate their
needs to doctors, nurses and
other healthcare professionals.
Download
the hospital passport
Film launched to promote
cervical screening for women
A new resource about cervical
screening (smear tests) has been
launched following the poor
uptake of screening for women
with learning disabilities. ‘The
Smear Test Film’ is a health
education film resource for
women eligible for cervical
screening who have mild and
moderate learning disabilities.
It has been made by Public
Health England in association
with Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust.
Watch
'The Smear Test Film'
The
Improving Health and Lives
Learning
Disabilities
Observatory The
Improving Health and Lives Learning
Disabilities Observatory keeps watch
on the health of people with
learning disabilities and the health
care they receive. They have a
website that provides a lot of
information and reports on projects
they are involved in.
A key
publication you will find there is
Estimating
Future Need for Social Care
among Adults with Learning
Disabilities in England: An
Update. This is an update to
a 2008 publication by Eric Emerson
and Chris Hatton of estimates of the
need for adult social care support
among people with learning
disabilities in England. Covers the
period 2009-2026.
Find
out more on their
website.
Good
health care for all
The booklet from the Foundation
for People with Learning
Disabilities, provides practical
hints and tips for people with
learning disabilities, family
carers and anyone who supports a
person with learning
disabilities on how to go about
using the NHS, what to expect,
real life examples of challenges
and how they can be overcome as
well as some advice about how to
get help and some useful
contacts to get more
information.
Download
it from their website.
Beat
the Heatwave - stay cool in
hot
weather
The government produced this easy read guide about how to stay cool during hot weather a couple of years ago but the advice remains helpful. 'Keeping healthy when it is really hot', advises people to avoid alcohol, use sun protection and to stay out of the sun in peak times (from 11am - 4pm) during a heatwave. It also recommends to check on neighbours or older people who may struggle in the heat and never to leave people or animals in a parked car for a long amount of time.
Download
from the Haringey
Council
website
Live with a Healthy
Heart
A
DVD and booklet that helps people
with learning disabilities to
understand about coronary heart
disease and its risk factors.
Download
from the British Heart
Foundation website
Postural care pathway for
people with learning
disabilities
The Learning Disabilities Elf, a
blog which looks at the latest
evidence in relation to learning
disabilities, has published a
blog post about postural support
and how it can be critical in
reducing pain and discomfort for
people who have mobility issues.
It includes a range of postural
support recources and discusses
where postural support in the
UK.
The
Learning Disabilities
Elf
Congential heart disease information in easy read
Community Futures Kent, part of the Avenues Trust Group, helped
create an easy read version of a
new ‘Adults living with
congenital heart disease’
document from NHS Specialised
Services. Mencap and the Down’s Heart Group also helped to check the document.
Meeting
needs and reducing distress
in NHS
settings
NHS Protect has launched new
guidance on the prevention and
management of clinically related
challenging behaviour in NHS
settings.
The guidance is aimed at clinical
staff, managers, trainers, and
non-clinical staff. It may also
be of interest to patients and
service users, their carers and
families.
It has been developed to assist
staff in preventing and managing
clinically related challenging
behaviour by minimising a
patient’s distress, meeting
their needs and delivering high
quality personalised care, in an
environment that is safe for
staff, patients and
visitors.
The guidance, training videos and
other resources and useful tools
can be accessed on a dedicated
website
Understanding
Intellectual Disability and
Health Developed
by
St George's University of London and
edited by Shiela Hollins, this
website has a wealth of information
about this subject.
Find
out more on their
website.
Working
together: easy steps to
improving
how people with a learning
disability are supported
when in
hospital
This Hft booklet was put together
by a working group of family
carers, hospital staff and
learning disability nurses and
offers useful resources
including a Checklist for
Admission Meetings.
The booklet can be downloaded
from the Hft wesbite.
The
estimated prevalence of
visual
impairment among people with
learning disabilities in the
UK by Eric Emerson
and
Janet Robertson of the Learning
Disabilities Observatory
The
report, commissioned by RNIB and
SeeAbility and published in June
2012, contains estimates of the
prevalence of visual impairments
among children and adults with
learning disabilities in the UK.
Download
the report from the IHAL
website.
Easyread
leaflet on
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an infection that
makes the tiny air sacs in your
lungs inflamed (swollen and
sore). They then fill with
liquid. The Foundation for
People with Learning
Disabilities have funded the
production of an easyread
leaflet on pneumonia. The guide
includes the definition, the
symptoms, the diagnosis, the
treatment, complications and
prevention of
pneumonia.
Download
the easyread leaflet on
Pneumonia.
Asthma
help
Asthma UK have produced a range
of free easy to read materials
produced in partnership with
people with learning
disabilities. These materials
can be used to talk through the
basics of asthma and asthma
management. Among the materials
are: An easy to read and
understand guide to asthma which
explains what asthma is, the
triggers and treatments and how
to look after your asthma, also
a guide with four clearly
illustrated steps to what to do
in an asthma attack.
Find
out more on the Asthma
UK
website
Learning Disabilities and
Dementia
The Alzheimer's Society have a
factsheet 'Learning Disabilities
and Dementia'.
"Advances in medical and social
care have led to a significant
increase in the life expectancy
of people with learning
disabilities. Understanding the
effects of ageing among this
group − including the increased
risk of developing dementia -
has therefore become
increasingly important. This
factsheet explains how dementia
may be experienced by someone
with a learning disability and
gives some suggestions for how
the person can be
supported."
Find
out more on their
website.
Dementia and people with
learning
disabilities
This report is the result of a
joint working group of the
Learning Disability Faculty of
the British Psychological
Society and the Royal College of
Psychiatrists.
The main purpose of the report is
to enable those working in
clinical and social care
services to improve the quality
of life of people with learning
disabilities who develop
dementia, by providing guidance
to inform assessment, diagnosis,
treatment and support. The
guidance is aimed at clinicians
in learning disability and older
peoples’ mental health services
and services for younger people
with dementia.
Download
the report.
Toolkit
to maintain good daily
health
A health toolkit has been launched, developed by a team of nurses, which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people with learning disabilities.
It contains information to help people maintain good health on a day-to-day basis.
The toolkit is divided into six sections, the first four being relevant to all workers who want to gain a greater understanding of how to best look after people in care. Later sections focus on particular illnesses or conditions to give support staff a more acute understanding of these problems.
More information.
Download the health toolkit.
Dec 2013: New
standards aim to improve
health
services for people with
sensory
loss
Two new guides have been
published that will help front
line NHS staff to communicate
with people who have a range of
different needs, including those
who are deaf or hard of hearing,
blind or partially sighted or
have learning disabilities.
The new All Wales Standards for
Accessible Communication and
Information for People with
Sensory Loss focuses on what
people should expect to receive
when they access healthcare.
Download
the guides
Confidential Inquiry
Events - presentations
available
to download
The
CIPOLD team have made the
presentations that they used in
their recent review meetings
available to download to the
public.
Download
the presentations from their
website
Hiblio - health film your
way
An
excellent health site which
includes lots of short videos on
pregnancy, birth, babies and
toddlers as well as other health
issues. The videos aren't
specifically made for adults
with learning difficulties but
they would still be great for
sharing with individual mums or
parents groups.
Visit
their website
Your breasts, your health
– supporting people with
learning
disabilities
This free resource from
Breast Cancer Care is designed
to help people with learning
disabilities be breast aware,
with the support of their carer.
The pack includes a breast
awareness book for people with
learning disabilities and an
accompanying guide for their
carer.
Download
the resource or order a hard
copy
Easy Read lung cancer
leaflet
The
NHS has created an Easy Read
version of their Be Clear on
Cancer lung cancer leaflet,
available to download for free.
Download
the Easy Read leaflet
In Control's CCG health
programme webinar
In Control co-hosted a
webinar with NHS England to
introduce the personal health
budget delivery programme for
clinical commissioning groups
(CCGs). A recording of the
session, together with a copy of
the slides can be downloaded
from the In Control website.
Visit
the In Control website
Are things getting better
for people with learning
disabilities?
BILD
and Mencap ran a consultation,
with the Department of Health,
to find out from people with
learning disabilities and family
carers about their experiences
of using the health service and
what they think needs to change.
Together
we have produced a joint report,
called Getting Better?, which
reports on the consultation and
what people with learning
disabilities and family carers
said. You can also download the
results of the online survey.
Download
Getting Better? Full
Report
Download
Getting Better? Easy Read
Summary
Download
Getting Better Survey
Results
Download
Getting Better Easy Read
Survey Results
Learning Disability
Profiles
Improving
Health and Lives' Health
Profiles are numbers which help
people who plan health services.
They try to show:
•
How many people have learning
disabilities
•
How healthy they are
•
How much health care they
get
• How
well social services are looking
out for them
They show how
your area compares with others
and are used by planners in
health services and social
services. They are also
interesting for self-advocates
and family carers.
View IHAL's Health Profiles
Department of Health
progress report on
healthcare
for people with learning
disabilities
The
Department of Health have
published their second report,
Six Lives: Progress Report on
Healthcare for People with
Learning Disabilities which
outlines the progress made in
delivering the recommendations
from the initial Six Lives
report, what has been achieved
so far and what still remains to
be completed.
Download the Six Lives report and the easy read version
Government response to
the Confidential Inquiry
into
premature deaths of people
with
learning
disabilities
The Norah Fry Research Centre
published their report of the
Confidential Inquiry in March
2013 which had been set up and
funded by the Department of
Health in response to a
recommendation in “Healthcare
for all “(Michael, 2008 DoH).
The Confidential Inquiry report
showed that people with learning
disabilities have a poor
experience of healthcare
services and also die very early
compared to the general
population. The confidential
inquiry made 18 recommendations
and the Government response
outlines what it intends to do
to ensure that the identified
issues are addressed.
Department
of Health: Response to the
Confidential Inquiry into
learning disability
University
of Bristol CIPOLD Report
Alternative
guide to the NHS in
England
Very useful animation explaining
the complexity of the NHS,
produced by the King's Fund.
Watch
the animation
Alzheimer’s
Society
This site provides access to
information on the symptoms and
diagnosis of dementia, how to
care for people with the
condition, and relevant training
resources.
It also
includes helpful factsheets on,
for example, deprivation of
liberty safeguards (DoLS), which
were drawn up as part of the
Mental Capacity Act (2005) to
ensure that vulnerable people’s
freedoms are not taken away
inappropriately. The DoLS apply
to vulnerable people aged 18 or
over who are unable to make
decisions for themselves but who
are not detained under the
Mental Health Act (1983). As
such, the safeguards are likely
to affect mainly older people
staying in hospitals,
residential care homes and
residential nursing homes,
including people with dementia
who are informally admitted to
hospitals or care homes, and who
do not have the mental capacity
or ability to make decisions
about their care or treatment.
Find
out more on the Alzheimer's
Society website
SeeAbility: Easy read eye
health information
service
This
website is an online information
service that aims to improve
access to eye care information
for people with learning
disabilities. Eye health charity
SeeAbility has a dedicated area
called ‘My eye care’ – on its
website. It has been developed
by SeeAbility together with
Mencap service users. ‘My eye
care’ has been created by people
with learning disabilities and
includes easy read factsheets
and videos covering eye care
related information. In addition
to information about what
happens during a sight test, the
site has links to key aspects of
eye health care including advice
about wearing glasses,
eye-operations and a section
outlining the most common eye
conditions
Visit
SeeAbility's easy read
website
Reasonable
adjstments in eye
care
The Public Health Observatory
and SeeAbility have come
together to publish a report
brings together a number of
examples of reasonable
adjustments that can be used to
make eye care services more
accessible for people with
learning disabilities.
Download
the report from the IHaL
website
Talking
Therapies
The
NHS Improving Access to
Psychological Therapies (IAPT)
promotes services in England
that offer interventions for
depression and anxiety that have
been approved by the National
Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence. The IAPT
central team has set up a
website to explain programme
innovations in different regions
of England, and to provide the
practitioners and commissioners
of talking therapies with
documents and resources for
adults, and children and young
people.
The website also
includes links to relevant
reports and documents, such as
National Institute for Health
and Clinical Excellence guidance
and research, and to other
websites, such as that of NHS
Choices.
Find
out more on the IAPT
website
Department of
Health - Personal Budgets
easy
read leaflet
The
English Department of Health
(DH) has launched a new, easy
read leaflet on personal health
budgets. It explains what a
personal budget is and includes
personal stories, answers to
frequently asked questions and
further sources of information.
The leaflet is part of the DH’s
pilot programme, which, subject
to a successful evaluation,
involves granting anyone who
receives NHS continuing care the
right to ask for a personal
budget, including direct payment
for health care.
Download
the easy read leaflet from
the DH website
Easy Read Health Wales
website
Easy Read Health Wales brings
together Easy Read information
about all areas of health
relevant to people with a
learning disability in Wales,
enabling them to find out about
illnesses, checking their health
and leading healthy lives.
People with a learning
disability who speak Welsh will
also be able to find information
on health relevant to their
needs.
Visit
the Easy Read Health Wales
website
"Understanding personal
health budgets"
leaflet
The Department of Health has
published a revised version of
the leaflet on personal health
budgets relating to personal
health budgets pilot programme.
The leaflet explains the concept
of a personal health budget
being offered to individuals,
especially those with a long
term condition, and how this can
also be used by healthcare
professionals, commissioners,
and support organisations. It
also includes answers to
frequently asked questions,
shares personal stories and
provides further sources of
information about personal
health budgets.
Download
the personal health budget
leaflet
The General Medical
Council's Learning
disabilities website
This site aims to
help doctors provide better care
for people with learning
disabilities by: identifying the
issues; highlighting patient
perspectives and showing how to
put GMC guidance into practice.
More
on their website here.
Nurchat - a
fortnightly Twitter chat for
nurses
An online nurses network
of over 700 nurses of all
branches on Twitter, meetings
take place every two weeks to
discuss the topic of the day. In
April they held a Twitter chat
on nursing and learning
disability issues.
For
those new to twitter, there are
some handy hints on how to use
it on the above website, and the
transcripts of the conversations
that have previously taken
place. There are a growing
number of learning disability
nurses using twitter to keep up
to date and share their thoughts
on practice.
A good hub for this activity is
through www.learningdisabilitynurse.com
More
here: http://nurchat.blogspot.co.uk/
picTTalk
picTTalk is a piece of software
developed with children and
adults with a learning
disability, to facilitate
stories and conversations about
their illness, their life, the
impact of their illness, or
their future.
Using cue
card images via a software
interface, provides
professionals with a tool that
they can use to help children
and young people talk about
sensitive topics, ask questions
about their concerns, and talk
about their illness.
More
about picTTalk on their
website
Contraceptive choices for
women with learning
disabilities
- an Open University
research
project
Contraceptive choices for women
with learning disabilities is an
Open University research
project. This inclusive project
set out to explore women’s
contraceptive decision-making
and sought to include women with
mild to moderate learning
disabilities as well as Open
University interviewed 19 women
living in several locations
across the United Kingdom.
Find
out more information
Download
the full report
Top
of the page
My
Own Place 'My
Own
Place' a report from the National
Devlopment Team for Inclusion,
provides practical tools and advice
to help young people with
disabilities and their families have
good information and be supported to
plan so that they have equal access
to housing opportunities. This
report is part of the three year
Department of Health funded project
on Housing and Social Inclusion.
Based on the real experiences of
young people and their families, the
report provides a ‘Housing Pathway’
to be followed as young people plan
for their adulthood. The Pathway
also sets out the most important
issues that need to be tackled
strategically in a local area, so
that commissioning can ensure high
quality information and support for
young disabled people.
Download
the report from the NDTi
website.
Having a severe
disability should never
stand in
the way of having your own
home
My Safe Home are the UK's leading
provider to help and support
people with a disability to buy
their own home. They have
supported more than 1200
individuals and recently secured
new mortgage lending from three
providers, meaning that they can
now help even more people to buy
their own home.
Find
out more information.
Charities renew
pressure to move people out
of
inpatient units
New campaign guidance for groups
and individuals wanting to apply
pressure on NHS England and
local areas to deliver change
for thousands of people with a
learning disability, autism
and/or challenging behaviour
currently stuck in inpatient
units, has been produced by
Mencap, The Challenging
Behaviour Foundation and The
National Autistic Society.
Find
out more information
>
Download
the Making it Happen
guidance
>
How living in the
community can improve
independence and confidence
of
someone with a learning
disabilities or
autism
Martin's life has been changed by
living in his own home after
fifteen years in hospital. When
asked 'What's different living
here rather than in hospital',
he said, "It's quiet, no
arguing."
Watch the video >
Homelessness and people
with learning disabilities:
what
do we know?
"Whatever information you use,
homelessness is a significant
problem amongst people with
learning disabilities, and is
likely to be on the increase.
Official statistics say very
little about homelessness
amongst people with learning
disabilities, and are moving
towards making the issue of
homelessness amongst people with
learning disabilities invisible.
We don’t know how many people
with learning disabilities are
homeless, how they have been
made homeless, the extent to
which homelessness services are
accessible to people with
learning disabilities, and how
(if at all) people are being
supported to regain a home",
says academic Chris Hatton in
his latest blog post.
Find
out more in Chris Hatton's
blog >
Gaps between social care
and housing cause
unacceptable
home adaptation waits for
disabled people
Adult social care should
establish clear protocols with
housing departments to stop
unacceptable delays in
delivering home adaptations for
disabled people, says the Local
Government Ombudsman.
In the report, 'Making a
house a home: Local Authorities
and disabled adaptations', the
ombudsman identified a lack of
communication between housing
and social care as a key factor
in why it gets more than a
hundred complaints a year about
the Disabled Facilities Grants.
More
>
Download
the report
>
Two further reports from
the NDTi on housing are:
Making the
Move: 'Making
the Move' has been written to help
people planning and managing housing
and support services for people with
learning disabilities. It explains
the difference between supported
living and residential care. It
describes different types of housing
and support that should be available
for people, and how to go about
putting them in place.
Find
out more on the NDTi
website.
"We have experienced
being placed very firmly out
of
the picture
altogether"
The report 'Keeping in touch with
home', produced by the
Challenging Behaviour Foundation
and Mencap, reveals the
significant barriers families
can encounter in trying to keep
in touch with children with a
learning disability in
residential placements.
The Report is the first time
guidance has been issued on how
residential settings should
ensure parents can keep in touch
with the thousands of children
and young people with a learning
disability who often live
hundreds of miles from home
during their childhood and
adolescence in specialist
residential placements.
These placements could include
residential special schools or
colleges, mental health
assessment and treatment units,
and children’s homes.
Download
the report >
The Real Tenancy
Test 'The Real
Tenancy Test' has been written to
help people providing housing and
support services for people with
learning disabilities. It is a
simple test, based on a small number
of questions, to help review whether
services called supported living are
really giving people their housing
rights and helping them to live how
they want to. It describes important
things to consider when planning
housing and tenancies for people,
including when to use different
types of tenancies and how to handle
issues of capacity.
Find
out more on the NDTi
website.
A Real Home A Real
Life
Stories, told through video,
about eight people with learning
disabilities or autism, the
kinds of support they receive
and the varied ways they have
gained a real home of their own
and are living their own
lives.
Watch
a real home a real life
NICE
guideline on the transition
between
inpatient hospital settings
and
community or care home
settings for
adults with social care
needs
This guideline covers the
transition between inpatient
hospital settings and community
or care homes for adults with
social care needs. It aims to
improve people's experience of
admission to, and discharge
from, hospital by better
coordination of health and
social care services.
Download
the NICE guideline
Easy
read Centre for Sustainable
Energy
The Centre for Sustainable Energy has created a range of easy read resources about heat and energy for people living in their own home. The resources look at heating controls, dealing with damp and using a night storage heater. They also cover how to read energy meters and how to save energy and money at home.
Download
the easy read resources for
free here
Golden Lane Housing bond
Mencap and Golden Lane
Housing launched a charity housing
bond which will allow homes to be
bought for people with a learning
disability. In this video parents,
whose children have had a new home
and support from the bond, talk
about their experiences and how the
Bond has changed their lives.
Find
out more and watch the video
here Investing
in Ordinary Lives: innovations
in housing for people with
learning
disabilities This
new initiative has been set up by
the Housing and Support Alliance,
the Cameron Trust and the Centre for
Welfare Reform and aims to encourage
wealthy individuals, corporate
investors and lenders and small
landlords to invest in housing for
people with learning
disabilities.
Find
out more on the Learning
Disability Today website
Guidance
for applications to the Court of
Protection in relation to
tenancy agreements
The
Association of Public Authority
Deputies (APAD), and other court
users have asked the court to issue
guidance about applications in
relation to signing or terminating
tenancy agreements on behalf of
adults who lack the mental capacity
to understand or sign the agreement
themselves.
This guidance
has been drawn up with the approval
of the senior judge of the Court of
Protection, and sets out the
circumstances when it may be
necessary to make an application,
and puts in place streamlined
procedures for receiving
applications relating to more than
one person, thereby simplifying some
parts of the court procedure.
Download
the PDF from the Housing LIN
website
NHS England's new plan
proposes ‘homes not
hospitals’
'Building the right support: A
national implementation plan to
develop community services and
close inpatient facilities', has
been published today by NHS
England, The Local Government
Association, and The Association
of Directors of Adult Social
Services which they say will
'radically improve learning
disability services'.
People with a learning disability
will be supported to lead more
independent lives and have
greater say about the support
they receive under the proposed
plan.
Download
the implementation plan
More
information on the NHS
website
Download
the service model for
commissioners of health and
social care
services
Young people learning to
avoid eviction
Part of pre-tenancy training
course for homeless young people
designed by McCowan, the
“resettlement passport” is made
up of 10 modules that detail
every step of renting a home:
how to make a bid for social
housing properties,
understanding your
responsibilities as a tenant as
well as what to expect of a
landlord, managing benefits and
budgeting on a low income,
reading meters and paying
utility bills, how to avoid
debt, community awareness and
dealing with isolation.
Find out more
information
Have your say - Register your vote
Registering to vote is the first step to having your say in elections, so you need to make sure you're registered to have your say. You cannot vote unless you register.
The deadline to register to vote in the general election is 20 April 2015.
In 2010, United Response launched
Every Vote Counts,
a major campaign designed to
make politics accessible to all,
particularly people with
learning disabilities. The
resources they produced include
information on how politics
affects your life, how politics
works and how to get involved.
The Dimensions campaign Love Your Vote
aims to raise awareness of
voting and to increase the
number of people who vote, to
give everyone the chance to
shape the future of the country.
Speaking Up have created an
accessible website entitled 'Promote
the vote'.
It
uses videos to explain how
voting works.
Mencap's easy read guide was designed to help people know more about how they can register to vote. Mencap also have a section on their website which helps to explain what voting is and why it is important.
Enable
Scotland
provide
some useful resources and links
to help you understand how
voting works and what your
rights are.
You can register to vote online via the GOV UK website
A
Life Like Any Other? Human
Rights of
Adults with Learning
Disabilities'
Joint
Parliamentary
Committee on Human
Rights The
report
of the Joint Parliamentary Committee
on Human Rights, made up of members
of both the House of Commons and the
House of Lords. Among the
Committee's observations were:
"The evidence seen by the
Committee shows it is still
necessary to emphasise that adults
with learning disabilities have the
same human rights as everyone else."
"Evidence to the Committee
suggests that adults with learning
difficulties are more liable to
social exclusion, poverty and
isolation, and that efforts to
improve their lives have had
little
impact on some."
"The
Committee is concerned that adults
with learning disabilities in health
and residential settings suffer
neglect, abuse, discrimination and
indifference."
Download
Volume One - The Committee
report Download
Volume Two - The written
evidence Download
the easy read summary.
Commission launches new
information on human
rights
The Equality and Human Rights
Commission has launched a new
area on their website aimed at
bringing human rights to life,
explaining how they work and the
protections they
offer.
Highlights include a brand new
human rights animation and a new
section focusing on what people
should do if they think their
human rights have been breached.
Find
out more information.
Watch
the Principles of Human
Rights
video.
Safer surfing online and
pressure for easy-read
information to be in EU Data
Protection Reform
Inclusion Europe, in
collaboration with its partners
ANFFAS, Mencap, Plena Inclusion and
PSOUU, have developed the Safe
Surfing project. Safe Surfing aims
to ensure that people with learning
disabilities know how to protect
their data and safely use the
internet by improving their
knowledge and skills related to data
protection and raises awareness of
challenges faced when needing to
decide which data and information
they want to share with others.
Downlaod
the European standards for
making information easy to
read
and
understand.
Guide to the law on deprivation of liberty of children
There are likely to be a number of children and young people with disabilities who are deprived of their liberty without lawful authority in foster homes, children’s homes, care homes, residential special schools, boarding schools, further education colleges with residential accommodation, hospitals and elsewhere.
They have rights under article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights not to be deprived of their liberty without legal authorisation. However, the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards only apply to people who are 18 and over. Legal trainer Belinda Schwehr sets out what practitioners need to consider in relation to cases where a child may be deprived of liberty.
‘Know your rights’
guides on getting the right
support
launched
A series of guides that explain
the rights of individuals with a
learning disability and
behaviour that challenges – with
a focus on those who are stuck
in or at risk of being sent to
assessment and treatment units –
has been launched by a coalition
of charities, family members and
solicitors.
Mencap, the Challenging Behaviour
Foundation, Respond, CHANGE,
family members and Irwin
Mitchell Solicitors have
produced the guides in response
to the fact that many people
with a learning disability and
behaviour that challenges remain
in inpatient units, often far
away from families, and
sometimes for many
years.
These guides explain everything
from what challenging behaviour
means and what good support
looks like to the rights of
people when in a unit and how to
plan a successful discharge back
to the community.
They include top tips, key points to be focused on and signposting to useful resources.
Visit
the website for more
information
Implementation
of the rights of disabled people
to
independent living
This
Report, published in March 2012,
examines the UK's implementation of
the right to independent living for
disabled people, as enshrined in
Article 19 of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities.
Despite
the UK having ratified the UNCRPD,
independent living does not
currently exist as a freestanding,
justiciable right in UK law. This
Report argues that the existing
matrix of human rights, equality and
community care law, while
instrumental in the protection and
promotion of the right to
independent living, is not
sufficient. The right to independent
living
should be added as an outcome in any
forthcoming Bill on adult social
care in England.
Download
the report.
Human
Rights in Healthcare - a
framework
for local action
A
Department of Health document,
developed with the British Institute
of Human Rights and published in
2007, the purpose of this framework
is to assist NHS Trusts to develop
and use a human rights based
approach (HRBA) to support their
core business of planning and
delivering high quality and
accessible health services for
all.
Download
the report.
Human
Rights Act 1998
You
can read the Human Rights Act on
the
legislation.gov.uk
website.
A
Guide to the Human Rights
Act Produced by
the
Ministry of Justice, this is an easy
read guide for people with learning
disabilties.
Download
the Guide.
Easy
read guide to voting and
registering
to vote
This is the time of year when local council electoral registration letters come through the letterbox. Mencap have made a support pack for people with a learning disability, their support workers and families to help understand what voting is, why it is so important, and how they can register to vote.
Download
the easy read
guide
Your
Human Rights - a guide for
disabled
people Produced
by
the British Institute of Human
Rights, this guide provides
practical information about human
rights, and their relevance to
disabled people. It is written
directly for disabled people. The
guide will also be useful for people
working with disabled people or
those wanting to learn more about
the impact of human rights on
disabled people.
Find out
more and
download
the guide from the BiHR
website where you will find
lots more information and resources
about human rights.
Ours
to own - Your Human
Rights An Easy
Read
publication from the Equalities and
Human Rights Commission about what
human rights are and why they are
important, also has examples of how
they can be used.
Download
a copy.
Equality
& Human Rights Commission
online
human rights resource for public
sector The
Equality
and Human Rights Commission has an
online resource about human rights
to help public sector bodies in
England and Wales and organisations
carrying out public functions and
advocacy.
The resource
focuses on nine public sectors
areas: adult social care; children's
services; health; housing; education
services; local government; criminal
justice, courts and prisons;
policing and immigration and asylum.
Find
out more on their
website. Disabled
Childhood: A Legal
Handbook Disabled
Children: a Legal Handbook is a
guide to the legal rights of
disabled children and their families
in England and Wales. The handbook
explores that many, often
overlapping sources of law,
explaining the difference between
what public bodies must do to
support disabled children and that
which they may do. Available for
free on the Council for Disabled
Children’s website
View
the handbook on the CDC
website
‘Know
your rights’ guides on
getting the
right support
A series of guides that explain
the rights of individuals with a
learning disability and
behaviour that challenges – with
a focus on those who are stuck
in or at risk of being sent to
assessment and treatment units –
has been launched by a coalition
of charities, family members and
solicitors.
These guides explain everything from what challenging behaviour means and what good support looks like to the rights of people when in a unit and how to plan a successful discharge back to the community.
They include top tips, key points to be focused on and signposting to useful resources.
Download
the guides from the Mencap
website
Bath mum writes book on
Down's Syndrome to help
other
parents
A Bath mum has written a book to
help parents who find out that
their baby has Down's syndrome,
after being given an incorrectly
negative outlook following her
son's birth. At the time, the
information Caroline and her
husband Simon received, focussed
on the negatives of the
condition and didn't mention the
fact that children with Down's
syndrome can attend mainstream
school, enjoy clubs and, like
their peers go on to gain
fulfilling jobs. Caroline's book
The Label: A Story for Families
will be published in January.
More
>
If you can
recommend any information about
people with learning
disabilities
that would be useful to others,
please let us know at
Top
of the page
National
Forum for people with Learning
Disabilities
The National Forum is a
democratically elected body
representing people with
learning difficulties in
England. The National Forum has
the job of telling the Government
how it is working for people
with learning difficulties.
Each of the 9 regions across England
elect 2 members to the National
Forum plus there are 2 Co-chairs
making a total of 20 members. The
National Forum meets 4 times per
year. Each of the 9 Regional Forums
meet between 2 and 4 times per year.
They are funded by the Department of
Health.
Find
out more on the National Forum
website.
Report: People with
learning disabilities in
2015
The latest edition of People with
Learning Disabilities in England
(2015) is out now. This report
is a compendium of statistics
about the lives of people with
learning disabilities. The
report covers a wide range of
information about population
numbers, education, health and
social care.
Download
the report >
Resources by Jim
Blair
Jim Blair, Learning
Disability Nurse Consultant at
Great Ormond Street Hospital and
BILD Health Advisor, has made
available the following
resources/articles:
The
health needs of people with
learning disabilities:
issues
and solutions
To
know or not to know: Being
alert
– Why it helps to know in
advance if your next patient
has
a learning disability
Changing
culture, shaping care:
getting
care right for people with
learning disabilities
NICE guideline on mental
health problems in people
with
learning disability
The final guideline on Mental
health problems in people with
learning disability has been
published on the NICE
website.
This guideline covers preventing, assessing and managing mental health problems in people with learning disabilities in all settings (including health, social care, education, and forensic and criminal justice).
It aims to improve assessment and
support for mental health
conditions, and help people with
learning disabilities and their
families and carers to be
involved in their care.
Download
the NICE guideline >
Learning Disability
Statistics Scotland
(2015)
The Learning Disability
Statistics Scotland 2015 report
is now published. This is the
report of statistics about
adults with learning
disabilities who Scottish local
authorities knew about in 2015.
Download the report >
Learning Disabilities
Core Skills Education and
Training Framework
launched
Skills for Health, Health
Education England and Skills for
Care have launched a
comprehensive new resource to
support health and social care
staff and educators in England
who work with people with a
learning disability.
The Learning Disabilities Core
Skills Education and Training
Framework sets out the essential
skills and knowledge necessary
for all staff involved in
learning disability care and
will enable organisations
to:
- Identify key skills and knowledge for roles and team
- Plan and design content for education and training
- Commission education and training
- Conduct training needs analysis
- Support performance management processes and the assessment of competence
Download
the framework >
Find
out more information.
Supporting Parents
with Learning Disabilities
in
Scotland
This new report puts the
spotlight on the services that
are available for people with
learning disabilities who become
parents.
Dr Ailsa Stewart and Dr Gillian
MacIntyre from the University of
Strathclyde were commissioned by
the Scottish Commission for
Learning Disability (SCLD), on
behalf of the Scottish
Government, to carry out a
scoping exercise to discover
what kind of support is made
available to these parents, and
whether the services meet their
needs. The report reveals that
there may be 5,000 or more
parents with learning
disabilities living in Scotland.
More
>
Between 40% and 60% of parents
with learning disabilities have
their children removed as a
result of being assessed as not
meeting a satisfactory standard
of parenting. Their children are
removed into care, are adopted
or fostered, sometimes by a
relative. Download
the report >
Learning Disability
Statistics, Annual Overview:
England 2015 to
2016
Annual information from various
Learning Disability data
collections. This publication
presents a wide range of
information about care delivered
to users of NHS funded learning
disability services in
England.
Key Facts
- Between 1 March 2015 and 29
February 2016 there were:
- 2,650 patients receiving
inpatient care at the end of
February 2016 compared to
2,820 at the end of February
2015
- 1,800 admissions/transfers
to inpatient care
- 1,970 discharges/transfers
from inpatient care;
- 895 people have been
receiving continuous
inpatient care for over 5
years More
>
People with learning
disabilities ten times more
likely to have serious sight
problems
People with learning disabilities
are ten times more likely to
have serious sight problems than
other people.
Six out of ten will need glasses
and will often need support to
get used to wearing them.
The “Opening Eyes Peer Educator
Network” has been developed by
SeeAbility and Opening Doors to
train people with learning
disabilities on how to look
after their eyes.
Find
out more on the See Ability
website.
"People
with learning disabilities are
still not recognised as fully
human" "My son,
Connor Sparrowhawk’s death in a
Winterbourne View-type unit was
preventable. We don’t need a
commissioner to enforce pledges on
better treatment. Just treat
everyone as a human being.
Stephen Bubb's report on the
Winterbourne View scandal is his
third in the last 18 months
Winterbourne View – Time for
change, Time is Running Out and
The Challenge Ahead. He states
at one point; “I am acutely
aware we do not just want more
reports”. No. We don’t need any
more reports. But he isn’t the
problem. It’s the continuing
lack of recognition of learning
disabled people as fully
human.
Read
the article by Sara Ryan
>
The eLeSI Training:
paving the way towards
social
inclusion
The eLeSI training is provided
online and is open to everyone.
The training gives information
to people with disabilities and
their families about inclusion
in society and explains what
obstacles are faced. The
training is based on the
principles of the United Nations
Convention on the rights of
persons with disabilities (2006).
The training facilitates the
acquisition of knowledge
regarding the origin and
possible consequences of
disabilities and/or disorders,
it helps people to learn about
the factors which may support,
or conversely impede, social
inclusion.
Find
out more information.
~
National campaign
promotes the role for
leadership
in learning disability
services
Daniel, the Trust’s Practice
Development Nurse for People
with Learning Disabilities,
shares his experience and values
in a video show-casing
inspirational leaders for HEE,
aimed at encouraging leadership
in the learning disability
workforce.
Watch
it here >
Discuss issues affecting
the lives of people with
learning disabilities in the
Choice Forum
Since 2000, the Choice Forum has
been been the place to discuss
issues affecting the lives of
people with learning
disabilities in the UK. Everyone
who wants people with learning
disabilities to have a better
life is very welcome.
Members
include people with learning
disabilities, parents, friends,
relatives, people working in the
field, national and local policy
makers, service providers and
commissioners.
Find
out more on the Choice Forum
website.
Who is Challenging
Who(m)? Using research
evidence
on the perspectives of
people
with intellectual
disabilities
and carers
In a recent post on his blog,
Richard Hastings writes "Having
heard a number of individual
stories from people with
intellectual disabilities whose
behaviour had been labelled as
challenging, and carried out our
systematic research, it was
clear that a piece missing from
training for social care and
other support staff and
professionals was explicitly the
perspective of people with
intellectual disabilities.
Working with people with
intellectual disabilities, we
designed and carried out a pilot
test of a half day training
course for support staff using
the findings from the review
research and also some of the
personal perspectives of the
co-trainers with intellectual
disabilities."
Read
the blog.
Presentations from Public Health England's Learning Disabilities Conference 2016
The Public Health England
Learning Disabilities Conference
2016: Using primary care data to
plan better services for people
with learning disabilities
launched the first round of a
new set of national and local
information about the health and
care of people with learning
disabilities.
The
new data was taken from general
practice information systems
nationally, which were obtained
by a collaboration between
Public Health England, NHS
England and the Health and
Social Care Information Centre.
The conference included keynote
presentations and break-out
sessions.
View
the presentations >
New performance resource
to improve learning
disability
services in
Scotland
The Scottish Consortium for
Learning Disability (SCLD) has
launched a new performance
improvement resource for service
providers.
Progress in Personalisation is a
self-assessment framework that
helps provider organisations
measure the progress they are
making towards delivering
personalised support.
In the move towards self-directed
support, this tool will not only
help providers understand their
current effectiveness, but also
develop an action plan to help
them improve.
Download
SCLD's
Self-Assessment
Resource to support
conversations about dementia
University of the West of
Scotland (UWS) has officially
launched a new resource called
'Jenny's Diary to help people
with a learning disability
understand their diagnosis of
dementia. It has been developed
in collaboration with Hansel and
is funded by Alzheimer’s
Society. This is a free resource
and can be downloaded.
Download
Jenny's Diary
CQC looking towards a
positive future for social
care
for people with learning
disabilities - State of Care
report
Many learning disability services
are maintaining or improving
quality, according to regulator
the Care Quality Commission
(CQC), and it is hoped that this
continued. The CQC launched its
annual State of Care report,
which provides an overview of
health and adult social care in
England. It showed that, despite
increasingly challenging
circumstances, many services had
managed to either improve or
maintain quality in the past 12
months.
Find
out more information.
Clear and Easy: Handbook
and DVD for making written
information easy to read and
understand
People with a learning disability
need to know how to get the
services and information they
need in a format they can
understand. Providing accessible information is a legal requirement, and Clear and Easy will help guide you through the process.
Clear and Easy will benefit you
if you are from a local People
First group, a large disabled
people’s organisation, a social
services department, the public
sector, or private service
provider.
Find
out more information
Building on our plans for people with a learning disability
In her first blog as the new
Senior Responsible Officer (SRO)
for Learning Disability, NHS
England’s Director of
Transformation, Dr Julie
Higgins, discusses the progress
made over the last year and her
expectations and priorities for
the year ahead.
"My job
over the next year will be to
help translate all of the
energy, enthusiasm, ideas and
plans into real and lasting
improvement for people with a
learning disability. There is a
lot of work left to do, and this
programme remains one of NHS
England’s highest priorities",
said Julie.
Finds
out more information.
Building our
Power
Building our Power is a training
pack to support people with
learning difficulties to
participate on governing bodies.
Find
out more on the Building our
Power Website
12 common misconceptions
about Down syndrome
Hayley Goleniowska, mother and
Down’s Syndrome blogger, has
written an article entitled '12 common
misconceptions about Down's
Syndrome'. Many are stereotypes
which Hayley has challenged
as her daughter, Natty, has
grown up: "Before Natty was
born, I too was ignorant about
Trisomy 21, and many of the
comments that people have made
to us since her arrival have
portrayed their lack of
understanding too."
Find
out more
Learning Disability
Census and Mazars report
show
how far we are from equality
for
people with learning
disabilities
"What needs to be emphasised is
that everyone – whether they are
old, young, have learning
disabilities or not – should
have the same human rights and
same rights to treatment. And,
if they die unexpectedly, their
family should expect the same
level of investigation to find
out the reason(s) why. Until
this is ingrained in the culture
of all health and social care
services, people with learning
disabilities will continue to
experience inequalities and
discrimination", writes Learning
Disability Today.
Find
out more
IHaL Factsheet: Service Responses to Epilepsy
IHaL have published a factsheet
looking at service responses to
people with learning
disabilities and epilepsy. The
factsheet includes both easy
read information and a briefing
that outlines evidence on
service responses to people with
learning disabilities who have
epilepsy. This is based on a
systematic review of research
published since 1990.
Find
out more
Community
Data Toolkit
The toolkit has been designed
to help smaller organisations
find, understand and use data to
help develop or improve their
services. The Community Data
Toolkit covers basic information
about conducting research and
using data to help develop or
improve their services.
Download
the toolkit.
People
First Scotland People
First (Scotland) started in 1989. It
is the independent self-advocacy and
collective advocacy organisation of
people with learning difficulties in
Scotland. We are run by and for
people with learning
difficulties.
Find
out more on their
website.
All
Wales People First
All
Wales People First is the united
voice of self-advocacy groups
and
all people with learning
disabilities in Wales.
Find
out more on their
website.
Bereavement and Loss
Learning Resource
Pack
This pack is a long awaited
resource around the taboo
subjects of death and grief, in
relation to people with
profound and multiple learning
disabilities and their parents
and carers. The pack also
includes a DVD of two 20 minute
films of conversations with
parents and carers which is
a great training tool. These
brief films help us to
understand the experience of bereavement
for people with profound
learning disabilities and those
caring for them.
Find
out more
Films
for patients with learning
disabilities
Two films aimed at patients with
learning disabilities have been
published on the University
College London Hospitals Youtube
channel. The films explain what
a patient can expect if they
present to the Emergency
Department or are admitted to
the Acute Medical Unit.
Clinical nurse specialist
Tim Buck said, “There’s a
growing awareness throughout the
NHS that people with learning
disabilities face health
inequalities, in terms of
accessing appropriate
treatments. This can be made
worse by poor communication and
misunderstandings.” More
>
People with Learning
Disabilities in England
2015 The
Improving Health and Lives Public
Health Observatory annual report on
People with Learning Disabilities in
England 2015 which summarises
information collected by several
government departments about people
with learning disabilities.
It
includes estimates of how many
people with learning disabilities
there are in England and information
about the health of people with
learning disabilities, the education
of children with learning
disabilities and health and social
care services used by people with
learning disabilities.
Download it from the IHAL website
Mencap
A website that is full of
information, news, campaigns and
activities, as well as details of
Mencap's many services to support
people with learning disabilities,
their family carers and
supporters.
Find
out more on the Mencap
website.
Learning Disability Managed Knowledge Network
This website, produced by
NHS Education in Scotland, provides
information, resources and
education for health and social
care staff supporting
children and adults with
Learning Disabilities in
Scotland.
Find
out more on their
website.
Foundation
for People with Learning
Disabilities As
well as campaigning for the rights
of people with learning
disabilities, the Foundation offers
a wide range of services, including
research, consultancy and
training.
Find
out more on their
website.
Better Info, Better Lives
This website provided by the
Scottish Consortium for Learning
Disability, provides accessible
social care information for
people with learning
disabilities. It contains
information on services and
support and topics include
employment, housing, and
transitions. The design of the
website is clear and accessible
and available in a variety of
formats including easy read,
plain English, audio and
video.
Find
out more on this website
Learning Disability History website
This is the website of the Open
University's social history of
learning disability research
group. They run conferences,
produce life stories and write
books and papers.
Find
out more at their
website.
The
Langdon Down Museum of Learning
Disabilities
The Langdon Down Museum of
Learning Disability at
Normansfield contributes to the
public understanding of the work
of Dr John Langdon Down,
Normansfield and the Royal
Earlswood Asylum though
exhibitions and events.
The museum seeks to contribute to
the public understanding of
people with learning
disabilities through events and
educational activities. The
museum will celebrate the
achievements of people with
learning disabilities and
display the artifacts of James
Henry Pullen.
Find
out more on the museum's
website.
Internet
safety advice from Safer
Net Safer Net
is owned and managed by the charity
Respond and gives advice on staying
safe online for people with learning
disabilities, and those who support
them.
The site also aims to
raise awareness of online abuse, the
different ways that this can happen,
and what to do if it happens to you
or to someone you know.
Visit
the website
Access
to justice for the learning
disabled The
conclusions of a short research
study into the difficulties facing
individuals with learning
disabilities when they need to
access legal services has been
published by the University of
Bristol.
The report, What
happens when people with learning
disabilities need advice about the
law?, considered the barriers
preventing people with learning
disabilities, or their families and
carers, from accessing legal
services when they needed them.
The study considered key areas
where individuals with learning
disabilities needed access to legal
services including domestic abuse,
bullying and hate crime,
discrimination and offending.
Read
the full report
New Australian
disability journal
launched Research
and Practice in Intellectual and
Developmental Disabilities (RAPIDD),
is a new peer-reviewed journal that
will inform the design and delivery
of support that is critical for
people with intellectual disability
and their families, to participate
in community life and be included by
mainstream service systems.
Research and Practice in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities journal
The Keys to Life:
A new learning disability
strategy for
Scotland The
new learning disability strategy
builds on the achievements of 'The
same as you?”' 2000). This was
successful in shifting the balance
of care to support more people to
live in the community. It also led
to the closure of over 1000
long-stay beds, improved day
opportunities, created employment
and meaningful day activity and
better protection from harm. 'The
Keys to Life – Improving quality of
life for people with learning
disabilities' celebrates the changes
that have happened over the last
thirteen years but recognises that
there is still a long way to go.
Download the strategy document
The Mission
Project Ipad Initiative
"The Ipad Initiative (a US
website) is designed to teach adults
with developmental and cognitive
disabilities how to use an iPad to:
increase independence in their daily
lives, connect socially within &
outside of their community, find new
& appropriate activities of
leisure, further their education
with new & meaningful
information, and improve management
of their health."
More about the Mission Project Ipad Initiative
Turning Point
As a national health
and social care provider, Turning
Point offers the personalised care
and support people need to make
positive changes in their lives.
Turning Point has provided learning
disability services and support for
more than 20 years. Services are
tailored to include helping people
with their communication skills,
making more day to day choices, or
living independently. The
organisation helps people to achieve
a positive, free and fulfilling life
and those with a learning disability
to get the life they want through
appropriate support.
Turning
Point developed its support planning
and outcomes tool to keep track of
progress. The tool breaks down goals
into easy manageable steps to ensure
that wants and needs are being met,
as far as possible. A major goal is
to challenge public perceptions of
disability and bring about positive
changes to give people with a
learning disability the same life
opportunities as others.
Find
out more on the Turning Point
website
RADAR - Doing Sport
Differently
Disability
Rights UK has launched a guide to
sport and fitness for people with a
disability or health condition.
Doing Sport Differently is the
latest edition in the Doing Life
Series. It covers the benefits of
exercise and shows how to get
involved.
Download
a free copy of Doing Sport
Differently
Half of learning disability services failed to meet government standards
The Care Quality Commission
publish the report of their
inspection of 150 learning
disability services announced in
response to the abuse at
Winterbourne View highlighted by
the BBC's Panorama programme on
31 May 2011.
Download
the CQC Report and find
out more on their
website
The Department of
Health also published an interim
report containing new proposals
to improve the quality and
safety of services for people
with learning disabilities.
Find
out more and download the
report
on the Department of Health
website.
You can
find
out more about the background to
Winterbourne View and the responses
to the Department of Health's
Interim Report
on
this website's Winterbourne View
Responses page.
What's happening in
social care?
Chris Hatton of the University of Lancaster writes about "the
apparent disappearance of people
with learning disabilities from
the official gaze of statistics
and services designed to support
people with learning
disabilities", in his latest
blog.
Read
Chris Hatton's blog.
Watch
Chris' speech a BILD Annual
Conference 2015
Top
of the page
Personal
Health Budgets guides and
information
In Control have co-produced new
practical guides and information
about using personal health
budgets for children and young
people for health services and
their partners.
Personal
Health Budgets and
Children's
Equipment
Personal
Health Budgets and
Delegation of
Responsibilities
Personal Health Budgets
and
Young People with Complex
Needs
Personal
Health Budgets and Joint
Commissioning
Find
out more
information
"We’re at
a crucial time for personal
health budgets"
In an NHS England blog,
Registered Nurse, Joyce Bowler,
writes "Amid a continuing drive
at for wholescale redesign of
health services, another more
subtle shift is taking place, to
ensure that for a subset of
people for whom traditional
healthcare services don’t work,
more personalised approaches
become the norm.
Personal
health budgets, or PHBs, have
been described as a “breath of
fresh air”. Personal health
budgets are not about new money,
but using existing money
differently to meet people’s
needs. At the centre of the
budget is the care and support
plan. This plan and the budget
are then signed off by the
individual’s NHS team, and
regularly reviewed."
Find
out more information
New Money & Mental
Health Policy Institute
launched
A major new policy institute
dedicated to researching and
finding solutions to the
devastating link between mental
illness and money problems was
launched this week, funded by a
donation of at least £2 million
from MoneySavingExpert.com
founder Martin Lewis.
Find out more
information
Fact sheets on money for
family carers
Dosh has launched a new series of
fact sheets for family carers
who manage their relative's
money. Managing money for your
relative can be an important
connection to them, but can also
be stressful, worrying and
confusing.
They have worked with family carers to find out what information they need to help them and written these fact sheets based on this work which include information on benefits, mental capacity, planning for the future and checklists for financial health.
Download the fact sheets on money for family carers >
Free guide to claiming
Disability Living Allowance
for
children
Contact a Family have published
the latest version of their
popular guide to claiming
Disability Living Allowance for
children. The guide tells you
who can claim and how. Your
child doesn't need a diagnosis
to qualify, and your child's
disability doesn't have to be
severe - a child who needs help
for just part of the day can
qualify. Plus, you can still
claim DLA if you work.
Download
the Disability Living
Allowance
Guide
Timetable for Personal
Independence Payment to
replace
Disability Living
Allowance
This publication sets out the
dates during which Personal
Independence Payment will
replace Disability Living
Allowance and sets out the age
groups and parts of the country
affected at each stage.
Download
the timetable (Also
available in Welsh)
Personal Budgets: the
good, the bad and the
ugly
What is a direct payment? Are
they the same as a personal
budget? If I want to buy a
service to go into the school,
will this be allowed? These are
among the questions answered in
this guide to personal budgets
within the process of the
Children and Families Act.
Find
out more
Calculate your
benefits
The process of claiming benefits
is complex and can be difficult
to understand. But Scope is
hoping to change this by making
it easier to find out what
support and welfare benefits
people are entitled to. Scope's
new benefit calculator has been
created to help users access
independent information on
welfare benefits and other
sources of financial help. The
benefits calculator takes 10
minutes to complete and is free
to use.
Find
out more
Money
Skills
Resources
Banking made clearer -
Quick Guide
This
resource is a quick reference guide
for people with learning
disabilities wishing to undertake a
variety of financial
transactions.
Download
the Banking made clear Quick
Guide
Banking made clear -
Resource Pack
This
toolkit contains four activities to
help volunteers, support workers,
tutors, and other practitioners who
work with people with learning
disabilities to put together and run
successful money management
sessions.
Download
the Resource Pack You
can read more about the project and
its resources
on
our Money Skills project
page.
Department for
Work and Pensions Social Fund
Guide The
Social Fund is a scheme to help
people with needs which are
difficult to meet from regular
income. It is made up of two
distinct parts: a regulated scheme
which provides entitlement to
maternity, funeral, cold weather and
winter fuel payments for people who
satisfy certain qualifying
conditions, and a discretionary
scheme under which people may be
eligible in certain circumstances
for a: Community Care Grant (CCG) -
to meet, or help to meet, a need for
community care or a Budgeting Loan
(BL) - to meet, or help to meet, an
intermittent expense, or a Crisis
Loan (CL) - to meet, or help to
meet, an immediate short term
need.
View
the DWP Social Fund Guide
online
Financial advice from
Turn2us Turn2us,
part of Elizabeth Finn Care, helps
people across welfare benefits,
grants and other forms of financial
help. Its website has been designed
to help people find appropriate
sources of financial support,
quickly and easily, based on their
particular needs and circumstances.
It also includes a useful “jargon
buster” section and advice on how to
claim benefits, find an advisor and
manage their money.
Visit
the Turn2us website to find out
more
Mental
health services for adults with
learning
disabilities
People with learning
disabilities and mental health
problems do not always receive good
services, because there are very few
people who have been trained or have
experience in both mental health and
learning disabilities. The different
services do not always work well
together and people do not always
get the help and support they
need.
The Judith Trust
asked service users and staff who
work in learning disabilities
services what they think are good
services and how we can make them
better.
You
can download a copy of their
report, published in July
2011, and a copy of the
easy
read version of the
report.
Website launch - easy
read resources for mental
health
The Support Plus Team at the
Aneurin Bevan University Health
Board are delighted to launch an
easy read website as part of the
road to wellbeing in Primary
Care Mental Health Support
Services. The website has a
range of resources to help
support emotional health and
promote mental wellbeing for
those who like things clear and
simple. These web pages offer
information for service users,
staff and carers including apps,
books and leaflets covering a
range of emotional health and
wellbeing topics. Easy
read website > Road
to wellbeing >
New resource to support
conversations about dementia
University of
the West of Scotland (UWS) has
officially launched a new resource
called 'Jenny's Diary to help people
with a learning disability
understand their diagnosis of
dementia. It has been developed in
collaboration with Hansel and is
funded by Alzheimer’s Society. This
is a free resource and can be
downloaded.
Download
Jenny's Diary from the
website
A video from SCIE about
mental capacity
Do you know how to help someone
who may lack capacity, to make
decisions? In a new film,
Baroness Finlay, Chair of the
National Mental Capacity Forum,
explains how the Mental Capacity
Act (MCA) can support care staff
with difficult decisions. "The
MCA isn't a blanket judgement
over people's mental capacity."
Watch the video >
Five key steps to
assessing capacity
The process of assessing a
person’s mental capacity is
often misunderstood by social
care practitioners as they seek
to apply the principles of the
Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA)
and the lessons from case law.
Because of this, Community Care
has launched a set of resources
which aims to support
practitioners improve their
capacity assessments and become
more legally literate in this
area of law. They set out five key steps to take when assessing capacity: The starting point, Capacity is decision and time specific, Preparation for capacity assessments, Take all practicable steps and Applying the test.
Find out more information.
Resources from the
Massachusetts Department of
Mental Health
Excellent accessible and useful
resources from the Massachusetts
Department of Mental Health available
here > We use the
safety tools frequently in our
PBS programmes at CAPBS, to help
people develop more
collaborative Behaviour Support
Plans with children and young
people.
Mind publish campaigner
guides on restraint
Mind have published a two guides
to help campaigners better
understand the guidance on
restraint, and help people
campaign on the issue.
Restraint
in mental health services:
What
the guidance says >
Restraint
in mental health services:
Influencing change in your
area
>
Depression
in people with learning
disabilities A
webpage about this subject produced
by the Royal College of
Psychiatrists.
Go
to their website.
Mind Mind
helps people to take control over
their mental health. They provide
information and advice, training
programmes, grants and services
through our network of local Mind
associations. They do all this to
make it possible for people who
experience mental distress to live
full lives, and play their full part
in society.
Find
out more about mental health and
people with learning
disabilities on
the Mind website.
Mental illness,
challenging behaviour, and
psychotropic drug
prescribing in
people with intellectual
disability
A BMJ study found the proportion
of people with intellectual
disability who have been treated with psychotropic drugs far exceeds the proportion with recorded mental illness.
Antipsychotics are
often prescribed to people
without recorded severe mental
illness but who have a record of
challenging behaviour.
The
findings suggest that changes
are needed in the prescribing of
psychotropics for people with
intellectual
disability.
Download
the journal
article
Top
of the page
Social
Care Institute for Excellence
(SCIE)
MCA e-learning
website
These elearning resources are
freely available to all. They
provide audio, video and interactive
technology to assist in exploring
the many areas of the Mental
Capacity Act.
Find
out more on the SCIE
website.
SCIE 'At a glance' 43:
Deprivation of Liverty
Safeguards Download
this short guide from the SCIE
website.
A video from SCIE
about mental
capacity
Do you know how to help someone who may lack capacity, to make decisions? In this film, Baroness Finlay, Chair of the National Mental Capacity Forum, explains how the Mental Capacity Act can support care staff with difficult decisions. "The MCA isn't a blanket judgement over people's mental capacity."
Watch
the film >
Resources to navigate
capacity and deprivation of
liberty issues
A new knowledge and practice hub
on mental capacity and
deprivation of liberty for
Inform Adults' subscribers is
packed with helpful guidance.
Mental capacity assessments,
best interests decisions and
issues around deprivation of
liberty are complicated practice
areas tied up in complex court
rulings and the Mental Capacity
Act 2005.
This is why Community Care Inform
Adults has produced a set of
resources to help practitioners
navigate these areas, resolve
practice conundrums and become
more able to defend their
practice in court.
Find
out more information.
Film: Using the Mental
Capacity Act
This video, produced by SCIE,
explains the Mental Capacity Act
(MCA) and how it can protect the
right to make choices. For
people who need the MCA, their
carers, and others.
Watch the film >
Identifying
a deprivation of liberty: a
practical guide
This guide was published in April
2015 by the Law Society and
commissioned by the Department
of Health – it is aimed at front
line professionals and may be
useful for those who are seeking
to understand how deprivation of
liberty applies in different
settings.
Download the guide
The deprivation of liberty webpage offers the Guide, quick reference guides for different settings, and a podcast discusses the essential messages flowing from what is a lengthy guidance document.
Visit
the law society webpage
Mental
Capacity Act: A resource for
family
and friends of people with
learning
disabilities This
resource has been developed
specifically for family and friends
of people with learning
disabilities, using knowledge gained
through practical experience since
2007, so that they understand how
the Act affects them and those they
care about.
Using the Mental
Capacity Act: A resource for family
and friends of people with learning
disabilities is the outcome of a
joint project between Hft’s Family
Carer Support Service (FCSS), the
Foundation for People with Learning
Disabilities (FPLD) and the National
Family Carer Network (NFCN), and was
funded by the Social Care Institute
for Excellence (SCIE).
Download
the report from the Hft
website where you can also
see videos about using the Mental
Capacity Act.
Making
Best Interests Decisions: People
and
Processes The
Best
Interests Decisions Study was the
first large-scale national research
to find out about professional
practices in best interests
decisions made under the Mental
Capacity Act 2005. The study was led
by the Norah Fry Research Centre at
Bristol University, in collaboration
with the University of Bradford and
a UK research and development
charity, the Mental Health
Foundation. The study was funded by
the Department of Health and was
completed in 2011.
Download
a copy of the report or the
summary, from the Mental Health
Foundation's website.
Mental
Capacity Act 2005
The
Act can be read at the
legislation.gov.uk
website.
Mental Capacity Act Code
of Practice
The
Code of Practice supports the
MCA and provides guidance to all
those who care for and/or make
decisions on behalf of adults
who lack capacity. The Code
includes case studies and
clearly explains in more detail
the key features of the MCA.
Read
the Code of Practice and
other
information about the Act on
this Justice department
website.
Mental Capacity Act 2005:
Deprivation of liberty
safeguards - Code of
Practice
You
can download the Code of
Practice for the Deprivation
of
Liberty Safeguards from the
Department of Health
website.
The Mental Capacity Act
2005 Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards and you
Hospitals, care homes, local
authorities and Primary Care
Trusts have a statutory duty
under MCA DOLS legislation to
make sure that the person made
subject to the authorisation and
assessment process is supported
to understand what is happening
to them; and that they are made
aware of their rights and
entitlements under the MCA DOLS.
This is information, produced by
the Department of Health in easy
read, audio and video for the
information of those going
through the process
The Department takes
the view that these publications
should only be provided for
those service users and their
families who are going through
the assessment process.
Download
it from the Department of
Health
website.
Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards
Factsheet
This factsheet looks at the
Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards (DoLS) which relates
to people who are placed in care
homes or hospitals for their
care or treatment. They are part
of wider legislation designed to
protect the rights of people who
lack mental capacity and they
also link with human rights
law.
This factsheet covers: what deprivation of liberty means; the required procedure for authorising a potential deprivation of liberty; what you can do if you are concerned that someone is being unlawfully deprived of their liberty; and the required procedures and protections available once someone has been deprived of their liberty.
Download
the factsheet
Best interest assessors
have high levels of job
satisfaction despite heavy
workloads
A survey of Best Interests
Assessor reveals less stress and
higher wellbeing scores than the
average social worker.
BIAs reported having large
workloads that required
sustained effort and skill to
manage. They also reported high
levels of wellbeing and job
satisfaction, and levels of
burnout were significantly below
those reported in other caring
professions.
Find out more information
The
operation of the Deprivation of
Liberty Safeguards in England,
2009/10 The
Care
Quality Commission (CQC) has a duty
to monitor the application of the
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
This monitoring role covers
hospitals and care homes as managing
authorities and primary care trusts
(PCTs) and councils as supervisory
bodies.
Download
their first report on the
Safeguards which provides an
overview of how they were
implemented and used in their first
year (2009/10).
The
Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards The
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
(DoLs) became part of The Mental
Capacity Act 2005 from April 2009.
The Mental Capacity Act is a law
about making decisions and what to
do when people cannot make some
decisions for themselves.
When
people cannot make a decision for
themselves this is called lacking
capacity. The Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards only apply to people who
are lacking capacity.
BILD
produced two short booklets for the
Department of Health, that help
explain the significance of
DoLs.
Download
The Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards and You
Download
The Deprivation of Liberty
Safeguards for families and
carers .
Mencap's Mental Capacity
Act resource for family
carers
of people with PMLD
Mencap has produced a resource
for parents and carers of people
with profound and multiple
learning disabilities (PMLD) to
help ensure they are involved in
making best-interest decisions
about health matters. The new
resource equips parents to know
their rights and gives practical
suggestions of how they can
ensure that they and their
family member are involved in
decisions. It includes film
clips of families telling their
own stories of their experiences
of healthcare. It also outlines
useful tools that families can
use, such as hospital passports
and health action plans.
Download
the resource from the Mencap
website.
Mental Capacity Act and
the Human Rights Act – new
committee formed
A new House of Lords Committee
has been established in
Parliament to look at whether
the Mental Capacity Act complies
with protections in the Human
Rights Act. The Committee's
terms of reference should be
published soon, along with the
call to evidence. It will report
by 28 February 2014.
More about the Committee and its remit
Top
of the page
Positive
Practice, Positive
Outcomes: A
handbook for
professional in the
criminal justice system
working with
offenders with a
learning
disability
A Department of Health best
practice handbook from Offender
Health and Valuing People
providing information, practical
advice, sign-posting and best
practice examples for criminal
justice professionals working
with offenders with learning
disabilities and learning
difficulties.
Find
out more on the Department
of
Health website
Staying Positive: The
Criminal Justice System and
Learning
Disabilities
A Department of Health Easy Read
booklet for people with a
learning disability. It provides
information about the
publication 'Positive Practice,
Positive Outcomes', a handbook
for staff in the criminal
justice system about offenders
with learning disability or
learning disabilities.
Find
out more on the Department
of
Health website
Adapting the Thinking
Skills Programme to help
offenders with learning
disabilities
With funding from the Department
of Health the Foundation for
People with Learning
Disabilities has tested the
feasibility of adapting delivery
of the Thinking Skills Programme
to suit the needs of prisoners
with IQs below 80.
The Thinking Skills Programme is
used by the National Offender
Management Service to support
prisoners and those on probation
to address their self-control
and problem solving skills, and
to develop positive
relationships.
Download
the Thinking Skills
Evaluation Report
Download
the Thinking Skills Project
Report
Mental
Health & Learning
Disabilities in the Criminal
Courts – new
resource
The resource has been
developed for the use of
magistrates, district judges and
court staff. It includes
information about mental health
conditions and learning
disabilities, and the
implications of these conditions
for individuals appearing before
the courts; how magistrates can
recognise certain symptoms and
obtain further information; ways
in which defendants can be
helped to participate
effectively in court
proceedings; and sentencing
options.
Access
the resource online or
request a hard copy by email.
Going
to a magistrate's court -
information for people with
learning
disabilities
Leaflet produced by HM Courts
& Tribunals Service and
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership
NHS Foundation Trust to explain
the magistrates’ court process
to people with learning
disabilities.
It is
intended for use by anyone whose
role involves supporting people
with learning disabilities
through the court process.
Download
a copy of the leaflet.
Support for
vulnerable defendants in the
criminal courts
'Fair Access to Justice?'
launched by the Prison Reform
Trust for frontline staff in the
criminal justice system and the
NHS. It explains how people with
a learning disability who have
to appear in court as a victim
or witness are given extra
support or 'special measures' to
help them understand and cope
with the process.
Download
a free copy from the Prison
Reform Trust website
Need
a solicitor?
The Law Society has published an
Easy Read guide for clients,
supporting them to access
solicitors more easily.
Download
the easy read
guide
They've also issued guidance for
solicitors to help them meet the
needs of clients they describe
as 'vulnerable '. This includes
clients with a range of physical
and mental health problems
including learning
disabilities. There is also a
focus for practitioners on the
best approach to take when
working with clients who lack
mental capacity. The guidance,
or Practice Note, has been
issued in response to calls for
support from law firms
themselves and others.
More
from the Law
Society
Preparing
for your Parole Oral
Hearing
The Parole Board has created an
easy read guide for prisoners
whose case will be considered at
an oral hearing.
Download
the guide
A
guide to help with your
Parole
Review
An easy read guide has been
created to help people
understand what happens in a
Parole Review.
Download
the guide
Travel
in london Transport
for London have resources to support
people with learning disabilities
when travelling in London. This
includes a person-centred guide to
travelling in london, which also has
an audio version.
Find
out more on their
website.
Helping Those With
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral Palsy Group provides
educational information and
support to those who have been
affected by cerebral palsy.
Find
out more on their
website.
The Community Data
Toolkit Small
disability groups could boost their
chances of getting funding and
improve their services thanks to new
government help to tap into a
goldmine of data.
The
‘Community Data Toolkit’ provides
everything disability groups and
other grassroots organisations need
to know about how to analyse and
interpret data in one place.
Find
out more about the
toolkit
Countryside Mobility South
West Countryside
Mobility South West is a scheme
working to improve access to the
countryside for people with limited
mobility living in and visiting the
South West region. The scheme is
operated by Living Options Devon, a
charitable organisation that exists
to ensure people with disabilities
and Deaf people can make an active
and equal contribution in
society.
Countryside
Mobility works with partners who
hire out our Tramper mobility
scooters and wheelchair accessible
Wheelyboats at locations across
Cornwall, Devon, Dorset,
Gloucestershire and Somerset to
enable people with limited mobility
to gain access to the
countryside.
Find
out more on the Countryside
Mobility website
Really Useful Stuff
website
Really
Useful Stuff is a new online
marketplace that enables people to
find ergonomically designed products
that are easier and better to use,
especially for older and disabled
people. The website features really
useful stuff for independent living,
and finds products by listening to
the recommendations of Really Useful
Stuff’s followers.
Find
out more on the Really Useful
Stuff website
Guidance to
support effective
challenge
Voice Ability has published a 'Practice guide for advocates challenging decisions or actions with or on behalf of individuals' which provides provides essential reference materials, case examples and references to relevant Articles within Acts and Statutory Guidance; and aims to increase the knowledge and confidence of those challenging decisions in often, very complex situations.
Download
the guide
Find out where the
Changing Places toilets are
on
your next journey
The always brilliant Changing
Places consortium have produced
a new online map to help you
find the location of Changing
Places toilets and plan your
next journey. More
>
Stuck in the system -
short films on ATUs
There are an estimated 3,000
people with autism and learning
difficulties living in
Assessment Treatment Units. 950
of these 3,000 shouldn’t be
there. But with nowhere for them
to go, short-term treatment
units have turned into long term
hospital sentences. With the NHS
investing £45 million, they aim
to to get up to half of these
inpatients out over the next 3
years. But is this feasible?
This new short film made by a student to try and raise awareness of what's happening to young people with autism and/or learning disabilities stuck in inappropriate treatment units. Watch the film >
If you can
recommend any information about
people with learning
disabilities
that would be useful to others,
please let us know at info@kbmtr.com
Top
of the page
This
section has resources from a
range
of organisations in these
subject
areas:
If you can recommend any
information about people with
learning disbilities that would
be useful to others, please let
us know at info@kbmtr.com
You may be interested in the
links to easy read resources in the
Pilot
programme helps new
mums
New mothers with learning
difficulties have benefited from
a pilot programme that helped
them learn to care for and
interact with their babies, an
evaluation by University of
Bristol experts has found.
As well as meaning the mothers
who took part were
better-equipped to look after
their children and reported
changes including increased
confidence, better life choices
and more positive engagement
with services, the additional
support they received through
the programme also provided
potential cost savings for local
authorities on child safeguarding, care proceedings and provision.
Download
the parent pioneers pilot
programme
evaluation
Download
'Inclusive support for
parents with a learning
disability' by Mencap
Find out more about
working together with
parents network from The
University of
Bristol
Guidance on legislation
for childcare
Barrister Steve Broach has
written a guide for parents of
children with disabilities based
on the childcare laws which
currently exist in England. The
guide outlines the rights of
children, the childcare that
they are entitled to, and the
reasonable adjustments which
have to be provided by local
councils to allow them to attend
childcare services.
Find
out more
Helping pave the way to
an ordinary life for
children
with extraordinary
needs...
'Paving the way' is a new website
launched this week by the
Challenging Behaviour Foundation
and the Council for Disabled
Children which aims to provide
families, professionals, staff,
and commissioners with
information about how to reduce
challenging behaviour and to
improve the wellbeing of
children with learning
disabilities.
Find
out more information
New problem-solving
toolkit for parents
This toolkit aims to support
people with disabilities and
carers, as well as their
families and advisers, who are
encountering difficulties with
the statutory agencies in
relation to the provision of
health, social care and
education support services.
This toolkit aims to unpick
these problems and to develop
effective strategies for
resolving them. The toolkit was
compiled by Professor Luke
Clements, Cerebra Professor of
Law and Social Justice so offers
an in-depth look at family’s
rights but presents it in a
clear “jargon busted” format.
Download
the toolkit
>
KIDS launches recources
for the SEN reforms
KIDS have launched a new range of
resources to support families
and carers of disabled children
and young people to help them
navigate the reforms to Special
Educational Needs and Disability
provision.
The
full range of resources is
available to view
here
Guide to Supported
Parenting
The Scottish Commission for
Learning Disability has produced
a practical and strategic guide
to developing a supported
parenting approach for parents
with learning disabilities. The
Guide:
- Outlines important issues inherent in developing a supported parenting approach
- Highlights key factors of a supported parenting approach
- Outlines good practice in supported parenting
Download
a copy >
New Cerebra guide on
transition
Cerebra, the charity for children
with neurological conditions,
has published a new guide for
parents and carers on
‘Transition to Adulthood’ which
aims to help parents of young
people with disabilities and/or
special educational needs manage
their child's transition into
adulthood so that the social
care, education and health needs
of their child are met and
sustained throughout this
process and into the young
person's adult life.
Find
out more on the Cerebra
website.
Rare Chromosome disorders
- Practical Guides for
Families
Unique have been collecting
information to help families
affected by rare chromosome
disorders with practical daily
living and have produced a
series of information guides on
a variety of topics from
communication to grants and
funding. Unique does its best to
keep abreast of changing
information and to review its
published guides as needed.
Find
out more on their
website.
Working
Together with Parents
Network The
network
supports professionals working with
parents with learning difficulties
and learning disabilities and their
children through: A UK-wide Network
for professionals sharing positive
practice; Working at policy level,
they have a national taskforce; a
parents’ network co-ordinated by
CHANGE.
The network is
supported by a wide range of
organisations including the Norah
Fry Research Centre, CHANGE, Family
Action, the Scottish Consortium for
Learning Disabilities and Learning
Disability Wales.
Find
out more on the Network's
website. There are
country specific websites for
Scotland
and
Wales.
Good
practice guidance on working
with
parents with a learning
disability Good
practice guidance, published by the
Department of Health in 2007,
including a summary of relevant
legislation and policy, on how adult
and children's services should work
together to improve support to
parents with a learning disability
and their children.
Download
the report from their
website.
Voiceability
Parents Booklet
Written for, and by, parents who
have learning disabilities, this
booklet tells you what happens
if Children's Services feel your
child is at risk of harm.
The booklet explains in easy to
understand words and
pictures:
- Who normally makes decisions
about child protection
- What happens when Children’s
Services get involved
- The Child Protection
Process
- What happens at different
meetings
- Emergency Protection
Orders
- What happens in
court
- Different legal orders
- Adoption and Fostering
processes
Download
the booklet from the
Voiceability website.
Social Care Institute of
Excellence research briefing
14:
Helping parents in their
role as
parents
The topic of this briefing is
parents with intellectual or
learning disabilities and the
support they may need to help
them as parents. It summarises
the policy, guidance and
research literature on how
parents with learning
disabilities may be supported in
their efforts to provide the
best possible type of parenting
for their children.
Find
out more on the SCIE
website
Disability, Pregnancy
& Parenthood
International
Disability, Pregnancy &
Parenthood International is a UK
national information charity on
disability and parenthood and
the publisher of the
international journal on
disabled parenting, 'Disability,
Pregnancy & Parenthoood
international'.
In November 2011 they published
'Supporting parents with
learning disabilities and
difficulties: a starting point',
which brings together details of
the resources available to
professionals working to support
parents with a learning
disability. It also provides a
brief introduction to the main
issues faced by parents with
learning disabilities.
Find
out more on their
website.
“Growing
up with Down’s syndrome”, a
series
of films which demonstrate
activities for babies and
toddlers
Movimento Down, Brazil, have
produced 12 films which show
activities for babies and
toddlers guided by
physiotherapist Alexandra
Wakahara. The short films
describe activities and supports
for children from birth to 3
months, 6 to 9 months, 9 to 12
months and for children older
than 12 months.
Movimento Down have supported the
video’s translation into English
so that even more people can
watch the films. More
>
Parenting
Toolkit - helping
Partnership Boards
meet the needs of people
with
learning
difficulties
A Toolkit to help Partnership
Boards look at the support and
services that are offered to
parents with learning
difficulties, helping them to
check how good they are. You can
read the toolkit on screen or
download it as a PDF.
Find
out more on the London
Network
of Parents with Learning
Difficulties website
Starting Primary School:
For parents who have
learning
disabilities
'Starting
Primary School’ is a new DVD
produced by SCLD for parents
with learning disabilities who
have pre-school age children. It
gives them first hand practical
advice to help them navigate
their children’s transition to
primary school.
Watch the video online
School funding changes
and children with SEN in
mainstream schools: a
briefing
for parents
This
briefing from the Council for
Disabled Children provides
information about the school
funding changes and explains
what you should do if a school
or local authority proposes to
change the special educational
provision for your child.
Read the briefing from the CDC
Disabled children In the
Picture
Scope’s
“In the Picture” campaign is
about encouraging publishers,
illustrators and writers to
embrace diversity – so that
disabled children, are included
alongside other in illustrations
and story lines in books for
young readers. The “In the
Picture” website has lots of
resources for children and
professionals including stories,
images, fact sheets and a
reading list of picture books
that feature disabled
characters.
Find
out more about the
campaign
Top of the page
In
Control
In Control is a national charity.
Their mission is to create a
fairer society where everyone
needing additional support has
the right, responsibility and
freedom to control that
support.
They have a lot of information
and resources about individual
budgets and self-directed
support.
They have pages of fact
sheets here and audio
versions here.
Find
out more on their
website.
Think
local, act personal
Think local, act personal is a
group of over 30 national partners
that are committed to real change in
adult social care. Their goal is for
people to have better lives through
more choice and control over the
support they use: often referred to
as "personalisation". They represent
a wide range of organisations - from
people who use services and carers,
to the providers of services and
representatives from central and
local government.
Find
out more on their
website. One of
their publications,
Best
Practice in Direct Payment
Support: A guide for
commissioners, describes
how to commission really good direct
payments support by showcasing
examples of innovative practice.
Download
from the Think local, act
personal website.
SCIE
Report 20: Personalisation - a
rough
guide This
publication aims to tell the story
so far about the personalisation of
adult social care services. It is
intended to set out our current
understanding of personalisation and
its implementation, exploring what
personalisation is, where the idea
came from and placing the
transformation of adult social care
in the wider public service reform
agenda.
Find
out more on the SCIE
website.
A
Positive approach to risk and
personlisation - a
framework Commissioned
by the West Midlands Joint
Improvement Partnership, this
provides a framework for Councils in
shifting the balance away from risk
aversion towards supported positive
risk taking. The aim is to share
risk between the individual using
services (regardless of funding
source), their family, carers,
professional care staff, third
parties and the Council.
Download
the report.
Carers and
personalisation study by the
SPRU The Social
Policy Research Unit examined how
current English adult social care
practice balances the interests of
service users and family carers, in
assessment, planning, on-going
management and reviews of personal
budgets, particularly when
budget-holders have cognitive or
communication impairments. The study
examined senior local authority
perspectives, everyday practice by
frontline staff and experiences of
service users and carers.
According
to the study, carers’ involvement in
assessments, support planning and
reviews for personal budgets (PBs)
lacks clarity and consistency. In
most councils surveyed, service user
assessment guidance reminded
practitioners to ask about carers’
‘willingness’ and ‘ability’ to
provide support. However, there was
little guidance on carers’ roles in
support planning or on-going PB
management.
Download
the report summary from the SPRU
website
Service users, not social
workers, should lead support
planning
A report from the Groundswell
Partnership says good support
planning means people need to have
plans which they can evolve at their
own pace, and to be meaningful, the
process of planning needs to help
people explore how to achieve the
things that are important to them
and to stay safe at the same time.
Unfortunately, such planning is
often considered time intensive,
expensive and unrealistic in the
current financial climate. The
report puts forward a planning
process, called Empower and Enable,
which is a people led approach to
support planning.
Download
the report here
Positive
Behaviour Support in Residential
Care webinar
BILD ran a webinar for Action for
Children on 'Positive Behaviour
Support in Residential Care:
Making good decisions within the
legal framework' by Action for
Children and the Centre for the
Advance of Positive Behaviour
Support (CAPBS). This is now
available to watch here
>
The webinar was commissioned by the Children's Homes Quality Standards Partnership and delivered by Phil Howell, BILD Accreditation Scheme Manager and Sarah Leitch, Development Manager for the CAPBS.
"The simple existence of
a Behaviour Support Plan is
not
enough"
In the
Positive Behavioural Support
Competencies Framework
for
the UK, there is a central role
for a document called a
Behaviour Support Plan (or BSP),
says Professor Richard Hastings
in his blog.
This document is the culmination
of the process of detailed
assessment, including work with
people whose behaviour is being
described as challenging and
their carers.
The PBS
competencies framework is very
clear about all of the work that
needs to go on around the BSP to
ensure that PBS is going to be
done properly. Thus, BSPs are
important but they are not the
whole of PBS.
Find out why >
Positive Approaches:
Reducing Restrictive
Practices
in Social Care
This learning resource aims to
provide an understanding of how
to work using positive and
proactive approaches and reduce
the use of restrictive practices
in social care.
It is relevant to all of those
who provide social care and
support to adults and children
and young people.
The focus of the resource is on
enabling and ensuring best
practice using examples and
scenarios for illustration. It
can be used in supervision; as
part of induction; training
sessions; appraisals and to
inform policy; protocols; audit;
quality assurance and
commissioning.
Find
out more information
Excellent accessible and useful
resources from the Massachusetts
Department of Mental Health available
here >
The safety tools are frequently
used in CAPBS' PBS programmes to
help people develop more
collaborative Behaviour Support
Plans with children and young
people.
Assessing Behaviors
Anyone who has a copy of John
Clements' book, 'Assessing
Behaviors regarded as
problematic for people with
developmental disabilities',
Clements, JC and Martin, JKP
(you can get it on Amazon) or
who was lucky enough to attend
any of his training, will
know how empathic his approach
to assessment and working with
people that provide direct
support was.
John has now sadly retired but
has given permission for his
assessment document to be shared
- he is happy for people
to change or update it if they
find it useful.
Download
the resource
Tizard
Tizard have created an Easy Read
booklet to explain what Positive
Behaviour support is and
why it should be included in
service specifications. The
booklet includes information on
Behaviour that challenges
services and the reasons why
people exhibit challenging
behaviour, as well as what a
support plan is and how it can
be implemented into an
organisation.
Download
the resource
Department for Education
advice
Advice from the Department for
Education published April 2012,
aimed at governing bodies, head
teachers and school staff in all
schools:
Use of reasonable force:provides
clarification on the use of
force to help school staff feel
more confident about using this
power when they feel it is
necessary and to make clear the
responsibilities of head
teachers and governing bodies in
respect of this power.
Screening, searching and confiscation: explains
the use of the power to search
pupils without consent. It also
explains the powers schools have
to seize and then confiscate
items found during a search. It
includes statutory guidance
which schools must have regard
to.
Challenging Behaviour
Foundation
Services
for children and young
people
with learning disabilities
who
display challenging
behaviour -
Well matched and skilled
staff
is aimed at
commissioners
of children’s services and was
written by Dr Sarah Bernard, in
collaboration with the
Challenging Behaviour National
Strategy Group.
An accompanying resource for
commissioners of adult’s
services
Services for adults with
learning disabilities who
display challenging
behaviour - Well matched and
skilled
staff
was written by Dr Peter Baker,
in collaboration with the
Challenging Behaviour National
Strategy Group.
There
are a range of other
resources
for families and support
workers
on the Challenging Behaviour
Foundation
website.
Positive Behavioural
Support: a learning
resource
The learning resource is based on
a pilot training programme
developed for NHS Education for
Scotland (NES) by Edinburgh
Napier University, The Learning
Disability Managed Care Network
and The Forensic Network School
of Forensic Mental Health. The
resource aims to equip
participants with knowledge in
positive behaviour support (PBS)
and to help participants begin
to identify how they could use
PBS in their practice, to
support positive behavioural
change to improve the lives of
people with a learning
disability.
Download
the resource
Positive Behaviour
Support and Active
Support
'Positive Behaviour Support and
Active Support: Essential
elements for achieving real
change in services for people
whose behaviour is described as
challenging' is a report produced by The Avenues Group, United Response and the Tizard Centre. Its purpose is to demonstrate the extent to which Active Support underpins the effective implementation of Positive Behaviour Support and the role it can play in supporting people with challenging behaviour.
Download the resource
Positive Behavioural
Support Competence
Framework
The UK PBS Competence Framework
provides a detailed framework of
the things that you need to know
and the things that you need to
do when delivering best practice
PBS to persons with intellectual
disabilities and behaviours that
challenge.
Download
the resource
Physical
Restraint Direction Paper -
Supporting
people to achieve dignity
without
restraints A
policy
direction document for the
Australian State of Victoria
outlining a move away from use of
physical restraints.
"Prohibition
on the use of physical restraint on
people with a disability who are
receiving a disability service
provided by a disability service
provider."
Download
the document.
See also the BILD
Positive Behaviour
Resources page on
this
website.
Top
of the page
New
bereavement and loss learning
resource pack
PAMIS’
Bereavement and Loss Learning
Resource Pack consists of two
separate units and a DVD. The
first
Unit focusses on supporting
bereaved
people with profound and
multiple
learning disabilities (PMLD).
The
second unit is about supporting
bereaved parents and carers who
have
cared for a person(s) with
profound
and multiple learning
disabilities.
Find
out more and download the
Bereavement and Loss
learning
resource pack.
Involve Me aims to increase the
involvement of people with
profound and multiple learning
disabilities (PMLD) in decision
making and consultation. The
resource is the result of a
three year project, supported by
the Renton Foundation and run by
Mencap in partnership with the
British Institute of Learning
Disabilities (BILD).
Find
out more and download the
Practical Guide to Involving
People on the Mencap
website
Understanding the lives
and needs of people with
profound and multiple
learning
disabilities in
Lambeth
Family carers in Lambeth said
that people with PMLD were not
getting the support and services
they needed to have a good life.
They took this concern to
Lambeth learning disability
partnership board. The board
agreed that a piece of
collaborative work, focusing on
the needs of people with PMLD in
the area, would be a valuable
step in improving the lives of
people with PMLD and their
families in Lambeth.
Download a copy of the
report
from the PMLD Network
website
Working with People who
have a Learning Disability
and
Complex needs – the
essentials
This learning resource has been
developed by Edinburgh Napier
University, The University of
Stirling and The Learning
Disability Managed Care Network.
The resource aims to offer
workers supporting people with a
learning disability and complex
needs opportunities to develop
their knowledge, skills and
values in ways that maximise the
involvement of service users and
families and increase health and
wellbeing. To promote the
provision of support that
maximises quality of life,
choice, opportunity and
capability.
Download
the resource
Bag Books - multi-sensory stories
Bag Books is the only organisation in the world publishing multi-sensory books specifically for people with learning disabilities. Each year they reach around 19,000 children and adults throughout the UK with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities, Severe Learning Disabilities or severely affected by Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
Their main activities are:
- the design and production of a range of multi-sensory books
- providing specialist
multi-sensory storytellers
- training others (parents,
carers, librarians and
teachers) in multi-sensory
storytelling technique
Find out more about Bag
Books
Raising our Sights guides
Mencap and the PMLD Network have
produced a series of how-to
guides and films to help local
areas meet the needs of people
with profound and multiple
learning disabilities (PMLD),
funded by the Department of
Health.
Download
the guides from the Mencap
website
PAMIS - A Better
Life
A
publication to celebrate the
20th birthday of PAMIS. This
booklet showcases the services,
projects, campaigning work and
research that PAMIS has carried
out over the last two decades
and continues to do so. The
booklet highlights, through the
many colourful images and
accompanying text, how people
with complex needs are valued as
both individuals and the
contribution they make to the
community.
The
publication is available to
download from the PAMIS
website
"If
you listen you will hear
us"
"If you listen you will hear us"
is an innovative film which
explores effective communication
measures for people with
profound and multiple learning
difficulties. It is important to
have consistent staff and treat
each person as unique, a staff
member from the film says, as
well as using a wide range of
approaches and activities to
explore how the individual
communicates best. Measures to
improve communication shown in
the film include using a
communication passport and
sensory story telling, which
helps to detect how people are
feeling. The film was
commissioned by Leicestershire
learning disability partnership
boards.
Watch
the film
here
Fire
Safety
A ‘Fire 999’ DVD in which all the
cast have a learning disability,
developed by Devon &
Somerset Fire & Rescue
Service is proving a useful
resource in delivering
consistent and accurate fire
safety training. The DVD is
divided into four short sections
to encourage interactive Q&A
sessions throughout. It explains
what to do in a fire and more
importantly how to prevent a
fire occurring in the first
place, as well as what to expect
from a home safety visit from
the Fire Service.
For further information on the
DVD please email Dave Evans on
devans@dsfire.gov.uk.
No smoke without
fire
Speak Up Self Advocacy group have
created a range of easy read
resources to help protect people
against the hazards of fire. The
aptly named 'No smoke without
fire' resources include a
'socket overload calculator'
which demonstrates how easy it
is to overload power sockets and
a downloadable booklet which
explains how fires are started,
what to do in the case of a fire
and how to spot fire hazards.
Find
out more information
STAR Toolkit -
online safety and
ASD
The Childnet STAR Toolkit is a
free online resource that offers
practical advice and teaching
activities to help secondary
schools explore internet safety
with young people with autism
spectrum disorders. The
Toolkit is free to download
online and the teaching activity
ideas are provided in Word so
you can edit and adapt them to
suit your learners.
Find
out more information
Safesurfing -
Internet Safety
The internet is useful in many
ways, however sometimes there
can be risks and dangers, such
as stolen personal data and
cyber bullying. People with a
learning disability are
especially at risk of being
hurt, so to tackle this, the
SafeSurfing project created its
own internet safety training.
This training aims to support
people with a learning
disability to know what personal
information they should share
online, how to protect their
personal data, and surf the web
safely. The training is broken
down into the following
modules:
- How to use the internet safely and protect my personal data
- Dangers of the internet
- How to stay safe using the internet and apps
- Facebook and browser safety
- Summary of what we have learnt
Find
out more
information.
A Local Experience of
National Concern
The aim of producing this report
was to contribute to the debate
about how extremely vulnerable
people with learning
disabilities, autistic spectrum
disorder and mental health needs
or challenging behaviours can be
better supported and safeguarded
by providing information, advice
and support to their families.
Download
the report
My keep safe
checklist
The dark nights are with us
again, so we need to be extra
careful when we go out and
about. Building Bridges Training
has devised a 2 page checklist
of safety tips to think about
before leaving your home – get
in touch with them if you would
like a free PDF copy through
their website
>
Challenging
the media and staying safe
online
The Foundation for People with
Learning Disabilities are
calling for a change to the
language used about people with
learning disabilities and the
way they are represented in the
media, in order to tackle the
increase in bullying, harassment
and hate crime. They have also
produced two guides to provide
tips and advice to help people
with learning disabilities stay
safe, ‘Staying Safe on Social
Media’ and ‘Staying Safe Out and
About’. The Foundation has also
developed a guide for
broadcasters to help them
improve how they represent
people with learning
disabilities in the media.
Find
out more information
Care
Council app and online
training to
enhance care worker
knowledge
The Care Council for
Wales has
launched an app, Safeguarding –
Test
Your Knowledge, to help staff
and
volunteers in adult and
children’s
care services check their
safeguarding know-how. They've
also
launched an online training
course
Effective Supervision in Social
Care, an e-learning training
package
for new and aspiring social care
managers that aims to help them
effectively supervise staff. Find
out more
Safeguarding Adults: The
role of health
services
These Department of Health
documents remind health services
of their duties to safeguard
adults. They assist NHS
commissioners, health service
managers and practitioners in
preventing and responding to
neglect and abuse, focusing on
patients in the most vulnerable
situations. The documents
include good practice principles
and examples.
Find
out more on the Department
of
Health website
Hidden in Plain Sight:
Patient safety and Southern
Health NHS Foundation Trust
George Julian from the Justice
for LB campaign team has posted
a blog post analysing the
Southern Health NHS Foundation
Trust's Annual Report 2014/15
section on quality.
In
a review of the performance for
clinical quality which stated
"Serious incidents requiring
investigation (SIRIs): Incidents
resulting in serious harm not
common. 396 out of a total of
12499 incidents", George
responded by writing "Not
common? Who is defining not
common? What parameters are
being used here? There has been
no change in the number of
incidents resulting in serious
harm in four years – that isn’t
exactly great evidence of
Katrina’s passionate quality
team being able to demonstrate
any progress."
Read
George's blog
Top of the page
Children
with learning disabilities
at risk
of sexual
exploitation
Children with learning
disabilities are more vulnerable
to sexual exploitation than
other children, facing
additional barriers to their
protection and to receiving
support, new research published
this week has
revealed.
This issue is particularly hidden because few children with learning disabilities meet high thresholds for support from services. There is also limited awareness that young people with learning disabilities are sexually exploited.
The report, ‘Unprotected,
Overprotected: meeting the needs
of young people with learning
disabilities who experience, or
are at risk of sexual
exploitation', was commissioned
by Comic Relief, and undertaken
by Barnardo’s, The Children’s
Society, BILD, Paradigm Research
and Coventry University.
Find
out more and download the
report.
Safer Relationships
Toolkit
Options for Life worked in partnership with BILD and a grant from Sandwell Early Help Innovation Fund to create a ‘Safer Relationships Toolkit’.
There are seven individual
sessions aimed to support adults
with learning disabilities to
keep themselves safe in the
relationships they make. Each
session contains a plan with
discussion questions, scenarios
and group activities. This plan
can be used as a guide and
adapted to each individual’s
needs or interests.
The sessions can be carried out
in a small groups or 1-1 setting
as appropriate, and can be part
of a series of workshops or one
off for a specific
topic. Sessions available:
- Family
- Friends
- Identity theft
- Money Management
- People you don’t know
- Sex and Relationships
- Social Media
Download
the toolkit
>
It’s not on the radar:
The hidden diversity of
children
and young people at risk of
sexual exploitation in
England
In 2015, a series of four
roundtables was held with
experts in the fields of Child
Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and
diversity to discuss how the two
areas connect. The round tables
focused on boys and young men,
lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans
and questioning young people,
disability and ethnicity and
faith.
Bringing together the findings of
the roundtable events and
additional research, the report,
‘It’s not on the radar’,
explores how perceptions of
sexual exploitation can affect
the identification of and
response to CSE.
Download
the report >
Framework launched to
support work with harmful
sexual
behaviours
NSPCC, in collaboration with
Research in Practice, youth
justice agencies and council
leaders, have developed a new
online framework to support a
shared understanding, consistent
approaches and improved practice
when dealing with children and
young people displaying harmful
sexual behaviour.
The
framework contains a set of
auditing tools and standards for
local authorities to use to
assess current service provision
and identify where improvements
are needed.
Find
out more
information.
Help people with
disabilities find
love!
Fitzroy Love4Life aim to end
loneliness and help people with
disabilities find love and
lifelong relationships.
'Love is stronger' a message from
Fitzroy's short but striking
video.
Watch the video and find out more.
Supporting people with
learning disabilities to
develop
sexual and romantic
relationships
Despite laws, policies and
guidance it is clear that people
with learning disabilities
continue to face barriers to
building and developing
relationships.
In order
to understand more about the
reasons for this and what can be
done to support people to
develop relationships, the
National Development Team for
Inclusion have conducted a short
review of the evidence and
information available. In
particular, the report focuses
on the following two key
questions:
- What are the barriers or
challenges to people with
learning disabilities
developing sexual/romantic
relationships?
- What works to support people
with learning disabilities
develop sexual/romantic
relationships?
Download
the report.
Scope’s Romance Classics
#EndTheAwkward
Scope have released swoonsome
recreations of iconic Mills
& Boon book covers –
starring people with
disabilities.
Find
out more
information.
A to Z of sex and
disability
The A to Z of sex and disability
is a raunchy and light-hearted
look at the loves and lusts of
people with disabilities in
Britain today. Too often people
assume that people with
disabilities don’t have
fulfilling sex lives and
relationships. Nothing could be
further from the truth! It’s
time to End the Awkward and get
it on.
Find
out more information.
People with
learning disabilities want
to find love too
Although people with disabilities
may want to be in a
relationship, they are often
faced with barriers and
challenges that prevent them
finding what many take for
granted. But specialised dating
agencies can help to provide the
support they need to meet new
people and find romance.
Read
the article.
"I am married. I am in love. I
also happen to have a learning
disability - this shouldn't
matter"
"As soon as I set eyes on Helen,
I knew she was the one for me. I
have a learning disability and
never thought I could have a
relationship with someone. I
proposed to Helen after two and
a half years together, and we
got married in 2014.
I
always dreamt about getting
married, so my wish came true in
the end. I tell this story as I
want other people with a
learning disability to realise
they can have relationships as
well. There are not enough role
models out there, and I want to
show that my disability doesn't
stop me from living the life I
choose.
Read
the article.
Easy-read guide to
contraception
An easy-read guide to methods of contraception and sexual health has been created for people who have a learning disability. The guide, with information shown mostly as pictures, has been developed by organisations in Plymouth for those working with people who have a learning disability to help initial discussions.
To find out more email info@eddystone.org.uk
Anti-Bullying
Alliance guide in 'Tackling
homophobic, biphobic and
transphobic bullying for disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs'
Pupils who have a disability or
have learning difficulties are
significantly more likely to
experience homophobic bullying
than their mainstream
classmates, according to a
charity which has produced a
guide for teachers on tackling
the problem.
Download the guide.
Information
about sexuality, safe sex
and
contraception for people
with
learning disabilities from
the
Family Planning
Association.
All the resources in this range
of materials - including the
award-winning 'All About Us' CD
or DVD - can be used by teachers
and other professionals working
with people with learning
disabilities, as well as by
their parents and carers. 'All
about us' and 'Talking together'
... books can be used by people
with learning disabilities,
either with support or on their
own.
Find
out more on the Family
Planning
Assciation website.
Relationships, sexual
health and parenting
resource
for young people with autism
spectrum disorder
This extensive resource, produced
by Learning and Teaching
Scotland aims to help those
involved in delivering sexual
health and relationships
education to those with an
autism spectrum disorder by
giving autism-specific advice
aimed primarily, but not
exclusively, at mainstream
secondary school staff to
encourage innovative,
individualised and creative
teaching and giving guidance on
the different approaches that
can be taken to support
individuals with an autism
spectrum disorder.
Find
out more and download it
from
their website.
Useful resources on LGBT
identities,
gender, sexuality, sexual health and relationships
This resource includes an
extensive range of information
relating to LGBT identities,
gender, sexuality, sexual health
and relationships including:
- Easy read and accessible resources
- General LGBT guides, resources and services
- Information and support for parents, carers and family members
- Further reading and resources for professionals
- Other resources
All the resources in this range of materials is provided by George Burrows from LGBT Health and Wellbeing.
Download
the LGBT
resources.
Connect talk to us about
relationships and safe
sex
Connect is a comprehensive sexual
health service, for people of
all ages who have learning
difficulties or Autistic
Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is
held at The Wolverton Centre at
Kingston Hospital which is a
dedicated sexual health centre.
Connect offers testing and treatment for STIs, HIV testing, cervical smear tests, free condoms, pregnancy testing and more.
For further information download the leaflet >
To
book an appointment,
download
the referral form >
Child sexual
exploitation: support for
16-
and 17-year-olds must
improve
A report by the Children's
Society, 'Old enough to know
better?', found that many sex
crimes against older teenagers
in England and Wales in the past
year went “unreported and
unpunished” because victims were
afraid they wouldn’t be believed
by the justice system, feared
going to court or did not
consider it worth reporting.
Social workers have been urged to
improve their support for 16-
and 17-year-olds affected by
child sexual exploitation in a
week where new figures showed
huge under-reporting of sexual
offences among this age group.
More
information is available on
the
website.
Download
The Children's Society
report.
Guide
to tackle homophobic,
biphobic and
transphobic and bullying for
young
people with disabilities and
those
with special educational
need
Pupils who have a disability or
have learning difficulties are
significantly more likely to
experience homophobic bullying
than their mainstream
classmates, according to a
charity which has produced a
guide for teachers on tackling
the problem.
The Anti-Bullying Alliance's new guide, 'Tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic, bullying for disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs' recommends that:
- Teachers must take reports of bullying seriously. Pupils often say that they are not believed when they report bullying
- Teachers deliver sex and relationships education that mentions both homosexual sex and also sex among people with disabilities
- Teachers discuss being LGBT in school, as well as being LGBT and with a disability
Download
the Anti-Bullying
Alliance
>
Report shows people are still being let down 5 years on from Winterbourne
Five years on from the
Winterbourne View scandal, a
Royal College of Nursing report
shows people with learning
disabilities are still being let
down. The report shows that since 2010 the learning disability nursing workforce in England has been cut by a third. That’s a total of 1,700 posts, a third of which are senior nurses. More >
Download the RCN report >
Download
the Easy Read version of
the RCN
report
>
The size and structure of
the adult social care sector
and
workforce in England,
2011
Produced by Skills for Care, this report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England as at 2010.
It shows, among much else, that the number of jobs in adult social care in England in 2010 was estimated at 1.77 million and is projected to grow by between 24% and 82% between 2010 and 2025.
Download
the report.
Skills for Care
adult social care Management
Induction Standards
The Skills for Care adult social care Manager Induction Standards (MIS) are aimed at those new to management as well as those new in post who have previously managed other care services. They are also intended for aspiring or potential managers to help support their development, although evidence of having met some of the standards will require actual management experience.
The standards can to be used in a wide range of settings, including people who manage their own services and micro-employers, as well as small, medium and large organisations across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Although these MIS are not mandatory in the same way as the Common Induction Standards, they are definitely a measure of good practice and Skills for Care recommend that new managers should normally have demonstrated all the knowledge requirements of the recommended core standards within six months of taking up a management role.
Find
out more and download the
Standards from the Skills
for Care website.
Health and
Safety
Executive www.hse.gov.uk
The
Transition Information
Network The
Transition Information Network (TIN)
is an alliance of organisations and
individuals who come together with
one common aim; to improve disabled
young people's experience of
transition to adulthood. TIN
provides information about
transition through its website,
magazine, e-bulletin and seminars.
It is free to become a member of
TIN.
Find
out more on their
website.
Young people in
transition: guide
New health and social care
guidance from NICE – the
National Institute for Health
and Care Excellence – aims to
improve support for young people
as they move from children's to
adults' health and care
services. The guideline
committee, which included young
people, found that support can
often be patchy and
inconsistent. The new guideline
aims to ensure that young people
are supported and involved in
decisions before, during and
after transition.
More
on the NICE guideline
>
Preparing
for adulthood
The Preparing for Adulthood
programme is delivered by a
partnership between the National
Development Team for inclusion,
the Council for Disabled
Children and Helen Sanderson
Associates.
The partnership brings together a
wide range of expertise and
experience of working with young
people and families at a local
and national level and across
government, to support young
people into adulthood with paid
employment, good health,
independent living, community
inclusion.
Find
out more on their website.
2015 report on the needs
of young persons with
intellectual disabilities
transitioning to
adulthood
The ''Young Adults with
Intellectual Disability' (YAID)
project issued by Bitlis and
Inclusion Europe, aims to fill
the gap created by the lack of
services provided during the
transition to adulthood by
identifying the main problems
faced by young adults with
intellectual disabilities and
their families. The report, 'A
compass to develop services for
families with disability',
highlights the desire for
independence for young people
with learning disabilities and
support services for their
families.
Download
the report issued by
YAID
Ofstead: Progression
post-16 for learners with
learning difficulties and/or
disabilities
This survey, published in August
2011, evaluates the arrangements
for transition from school and
the provision in post-16
settings for learners with
learning difficulties and/or
disabilities up to the age of
25. Through visits to 32
providers and the completion of
111 detailed case studies,
inspectors assessed the
effectiveness of provision in
enabling learners to develop
greater independence, and
progress to further learning or
open or supported
employment.
Download
from the Ofstead
website.
Read
an Ofstead overview of this
study
Getting a Life
The Getting a Life programme ran
from April 2008 to the end of
March 2011, as part of the
Valuing People Now employment
work.
It was set up to show what needs
to happen so that young people
with a severe learning
disability achieve paid
employment and full lives when
they leave education.
The central programme team has
now disbanded, but the people
who have been involved in the
local projects are continuing
their work to improve employment
opportunities for young people
with learning disabilities in
each area.
Find
out more on the Getting a
Life
website.
Pathways
to getting a life
This
document brought together what was
learned about transition
from
Valuing People and Valuing People
Now during the past 10 years, and in
particular from Getting a Life. It
sets out clearly the key things that
need to happen to support young
people to move into adulthood, with
the information, experiences,
confidence and skills they need to
fulfil their aspirations, enjoy
equal opportunities and have good
lives.
Download
Pathways to getting a
life.
Info
packs on the SEND Pathfinder
Programme The
Pathfinder Support Team have
published the second set of
information packs on the SEND
Pathfinder Programme. The packs
include evidence of good practice
from across Pathfinders including
case studies and helpful
resources.
Each pack pulls
together resources from across the
pathfinder programme to cover the
six principal themes pathfinders
have been working on: Preparing for
adulthood; 0 – 25 coordinated
assessment and EHC plans; Personal
budgets; Local offer; Joint
commissioning; and Participation and
engagement with children, young
people, parents and carers.
Download
the packs from their
website
SEN and disability best
practice and
information Preparing
for Adulthood produce a monthly
e-bulletin that contains updates
from the PfA programme, information
about the wider SEND programme, and
updates from work in pathfinders and
other local areas. Each issue also
focuses on one of the four PfA
outcomes: Paid Employment,
Independent Living, Good Health and
Community Inclusion.
Read the Preparing for Adulthood monthly e-bulletin
Whizz-Kidz
launches free smartphone
app Designed
with disabled children, young people
and their families in mind, this
allows users to view mobility
equipment available from Whizz-Kidz,
discover additional Whizz-Kidz’s
services, such as wheelchair skills
training, and find out how they can
get involved in fundraising and
volunteering.
Find
out more about the app on the
Whizz-Kidz website
Mencap Best Practice
Guide – Young People and Social
Action
This
guide is for anyone who works with
young people or who provides
services for them, as well as young
people and their friends, families
and carers. This guide demonstrates
the difference young people with a
learning disability can make to
their own lives and to the
communities they live in. It
provides tips, case studies and
resources to help you understand
what you can do to support them. The
guide will help those who work with
young people to see similar positive
change in the groups they support,
their communities and organisations.
Download
Mencap's Best Practice Guide
from their website
Children's Views on
Restraint (2012)
In 2004 Ofsted asked children
for their views about physical
restraint and published their last
report about this. Children have
raised concerns about restraint in
consultations they have held about
other things since then, and they
decided they should carry out a
follow-up consultation to check what
children now think about restraint.
So they consulted children again
this year to find out their views
and concerns about restraint. This
report gives their views in 2012.
Download
the report from the Ofsted
website
Emotional
Wellbeing
YoungMinds
is the UK’s leading charity
committed to improving the emotional
wellbeing and mental health of
children and young people. The site
provides helpful information for
young people, parents and
professionals. Young people who
think they may have mental health
problems or want to know more about
the topic will find useful sections
on, for example, rights, being heard
and getting support, as well as
information on common mental health
issues.
Find
out more on the YoungMinds
website
Disabled children In the
Picture Scope’s
“In the Picture” campaign is about
encouraging publishers, illustrators
and writers to
embrace diversity
– so that disabled children, are
included alongside other in
illustrations and story lines in
books for young readers. The “In the
Picture” website has lots of
resources for children and
professionals including stories,
images, fact sheets and a reading
list of picture books that feature
disabled characters.
Find
out more about the campaign on
Scope's website
New Resources: A Pathway
for Children
The Challenging Behaviour
Foundation has been working with
the National Development Team
for inclusion to develop three
new resources setting out a
vision of future local pathways
for children with learning
disabilities and/or autism whose
behaviours may challenge.
Find out more
information.
A
practical guide to learning
and
development for personal
assistants
Skills for Care have produced a
guide to learning and
development for personal
assistants. There is an
interactive guide answering
questions about learning new
skills, informs on a range of
issues in employing a personal
assistant. It also includes
learning topics that may be
useful to your own development,
as an employer. Download
the guide
Visit
the Skill for Care's
website
See Skill for Care's Frequently
Asked Questions on
funding
to pay for learning and
development.
HEE responds to
review on developing the
future
care workforce but not
enough
dealing with learning
disability
nursing
Health Education England (HEE)
has published its response to
Shape of Caring review ‘Raising
the Bar’, which explored how
nurse and care assistant and
training could be improved given
their expanding and changing
roles. Download
the response >
VODG launch 'Thought
Leadership' report about
rising
to the social care workforce
challenge
The social care sector will need
to fill around 400,000 jobs by
2035. In the light of this
reality, how can providers
create a competitive edge in
local labour markets and
transform the sector into a
career of choice?
Following a summit held with over
100 chief executives and senior
directors in the sector
alongside Skills for Care and
Charityworks, VODG have launched
a new report rising to these
challenges.
Find
out more
information.
Remploy online support
chat
Remploy offer an online chat
service to use for inquiries
about employment and what to
expect during the recruitment
process. They also offer an
online job search as well as
interview tips and what to do to
impress an employer.
Visit
the website
here.
Why I love my nursing
job: a personal look at the
profession
Seven nurses working in different
sectors share their thoughts on
what makes a career as a nurse
so special. One of the nurses is
Linda Phillips, a community
learning disability nurse in
Llanelli, Wales.
“I have always had an interest in working with people with a learning disability – even at school I used to volunteer at a youth club helping children with learning disabilities. Today I manage a caseload of people with learning disabilities who have additional health needs. I had a lady who was deaf because of wax in her ears; she was terrified of hospitals. With desensitisation, she was able to go into hospital and have an op – it made a huge difference to her.”
Find out more information.
Opening job opportunities
to people with a learning
disability
The Director of the NHS Learning
Disability Employment Programme,
Lela Kogbara, has introduced a
new series of blogs which aims
to share perspectives on
employing people with a learning
disability in the NHS.
"Over the next few months we’ll be posting blogs on a wide range of topics from employers, carers, and people with a learning disability who are employed in the NHS, with the aim of sharing best practice and helping others find solutions to employing people within their organisations. We look forward to sharing their stories with you", said Lela.
Find
out more
information.
New guide launched to
help adults with learning
disabilities find employment
Families sometimes do not know
how to go about helping their
family member with learning
disabilities into paid work.
This guide, produced by the
Foundation for People with
Learning Disabilities and the
National Valuing Families Forum,
offers valuable information to
help families think about what
they can do to support their
family member.
Download
the Getting a job guide
here.
If you can
recommend any information about
people with learning
disabilities
that would be useful to others,
please let us know at info@kbmtr.com
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