To celebrate and promote this year’s Learning Disability Week, Improvement Cymru are encouraging health and social care colleagues to recognise the needs and requirements of people with a learning disability.
The theme of this year’s campaign, led by Mencap, is ‘Do you see me?’ and Improvement Cymru are using the week to raise awareness of making reasonable adjustments for people with a learning disability.
Health boards and trusts have been sent resources to help them promote the Ask, Adjust, Assist campaign that launches this week, and some organisations may run local events on hospital sites.
Ask, Adjust, Assist aims to raise awareness of the importance of making reasonable adjustments for people with a learning disability.
Dr Rachel Ann Jones, National Learning Disability Programme Lead said: “Learning Disability week is a time for us all to celebrate people with a learning disability and to reinforce the importance of making reasonable adjustments for our patients.
“By raising awareness of the Ask, Adjust, Assist campaign, it is hoped that healthcare staff will effectively identify and meet the health needs of people with learning disabilities.
“In empowering the workforce with improved knowledge, we are taking an undeniably positive step in reducing health inequalities that currently exist for people with learning disabilities.”
Laura Andrews, Senior Improvement Manager added: “Reasonable adjustments are not only a legal requirement but for the individual they make the inaccessible accessible.
“The Equality Act 2010 places a legal duty on organisations to make reasonable adjustments to the way services are provided to ensure that disabled people receive healthcare specific to their needs.
“When an individual is ‘asked’ what their needs are and the health professional ‘adjusts’ their approach in response, they ‘assist’ the reduction in health inequalities and the stress for the individual and those that care for them.
“The little things can and do make a huge difference.”
As part of this campaign, health and social care colleagues are encouraged to ask those they support for their Health Profile, which contains information about the person’s health, care and support needs and communication.
The aim of the Health Profile is to help people with a learning disability to receive safe and effective healthcare at the time they need it. The profile is designed to be owned and shared by the individual and if required a carer can help to complete and share it.
For more information about the Health Profile, including copies to download and print, please visit the Learning Disability pages.