Policy

Definition from Mencap

“People with learning disabilities find it harder than others to learn and to understand. As a result, some need support with everyday practical skills like getting dressed, or cooking, or social skills like holding a conversation. Others with more severe learning disabilities, often coupled with physical disabilities, require 24-hour care.”

What we are doing

In the last two years, the Trustees of the Mercer’s Company have made two very generous donations to fund five local Age Concerns to help develop small scale initiatives addressing the social and emotional needs of older people with learning disabilities and their older family carers. Their work has focused on:

• empowering older people with learning disabilities and their families to identify their own needs and priorities
• working with local disability organisations, carers’ organisations, housing, health, and social services to provide more effective co-ordinated support
• and ensuring that older people with learning disabilities maintain strong social networks.

Pilot projects

A brief summary of these innovative pilot projects is given below. Please click on the Age Concern name for further information and contact details.

Age Concern Coventry has focused on raising awareness of learning disability issues of older people, adding dimensions to existing services.  This has been implemented through Person Centred Planning training for staff and volunteers, enabling greater staff engagement and programming events that would otherwise not take place.  Person Centred planning focuses on supporting people with disabilities by putting the person at the centre of a planning process and giving them control over it. In addition, AC Coventry has been successful in integrating a number of older adults with learning disabilities into mainstream craft classes.
 
Age Concern Leicester  has been investigating the lack of representation of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities on the learning disability register.  The project continues to carry out research into the number of BME groups on the learning disability register as well as the type of provision available.  The project has also looked at service users’ and carers’ views of the future need to provide a more appropriate awareness of the extent of learning disabilities among over 50s and improve their expert knowledge of local available services, allowing more effective advice and support for users and carers. 

Age Concern Nottingham & Nottinghamshire  has been working towards addressing issues around the unique needs of people vulnerable to ‘double exclusion’, because of their age and their disability.  In consultation with local people with learning disabilities, ACNN have been reviewing their practices, services, publications and other media to ensure that they are accessible and meet the particular needs and opportunities of older people with mild learning disabilities and their carers. Email Carol Wilby or call 0115 844 0011

Age Concern Norwich  has been working successfully to extend its existing programme of consultation with older people to provide a voice for older people with learning disabilities and to ensure that older people with learning disabilities are fully represented as a distinct group. 

Age Concern Norfolk  has been carrying out a piece of work which identifies the support needs of older people with learning disabilities engaged in mutual caring roles, normally with their older family carer/parent of many years’ standing.  This piece of research was prompted by a project conducted on behalf of Sheffield Mencap through which the extent to which people with learning disabilities occupy a mutual caring role was explored for the first time. Email: Eamon McGrath or call 01603 785 222

Next steps 

We are planning a dissemination event and will be publishing the final evaluation report together with a research briefing in February 2008.

For more details contact:

Claire Ball
Tel: 020 8765 7718

Contact us

Email: Claire Ball

Tel: 020 8765 7718