My Health, My Say: the experiences of people with a learning disability using local health and social care services
We worked with Sheffield Mencap and Gateway to explore the experiences of people with a Learning Disability when they access health and social care services.
With the help of Sheffield Mencap & Gateway, we heard from 143 people with a Learning Disability who lived in Sheffield. We compared the responses they provided with a similar survey run by Healthwatch in 2014, which surveyed the general population.
Key findings:
- The attitude of staff is key to an individual’s experience of using a service.
- Respondents told us that their experiences of services could be improved if more health and social care professionals had a better understanding of the needs of people with a learning disability.
- Communicating and sharing information effectively is a recurring theme. Written materials need to be both appropriate and accessible.
- Regular two-way communication was important to respondents, including regular social care reviews.
- Many people with learning disabilities also have physical disabilities so appropriate access to services is important. A calming physical environment is ideal.
- Specific barriers and challenges to accessing services were highlighted as having a negative impact on those with a learning disability. These included difficulties with access to a social worker, the transition from children and young people to adult services, and variability of day care services.
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If you need these documents in a different format, please email info@healthwatchsheffield.co.uk or call 0114 253 6688.
