Learning Disabilities and Autism Awareness

Our Passion, Your Care.

Learning Disabilities and Autism Awareness

October 2013

Sally Ryan –Learning Disabilities Liaison Nurse Specialist


What is a learning disability?

A significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information and to learn new skills with a reduced ability to cope independently which

started before adulthood, with a lasting effect on development.

Learning Disability does not include all those with a learning difficulty.


Numbers

• The Department of Health suggests Learning Disabilities affect approximately 2% of the population.

• In the East of England there are approximately 113,000 people with a learning disability.

• Within this hospital there will be between 9 and 18 people with a learning disability in any one day.

• There are over half a million people in the UK with autism - that's around 1 in 100.


Degrees of learning disability

MILD- 89% Live independently, have their own families, often in employment and have no need for services unless

they are in crisis

MODERATE- 6%Will require some degree of

support and may have difficulty communicating their needs.

Often living in supported living schemes or with their families.

SEVERE- 3.5%Have significantly increased health needs including Epilepsy, sensory

impairments, physical health needs. Have complex, high support needs

and great difficulty expressing these.

PROFOUND- 1.5%As for Severe but may also exhibit

behaviours which challenge service provision. May engage in self injurious behaviours due to

frustration.


What is Autism?

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.


How to Recognise a Learning Disability

• Communication difficulties.• Difficulty in providing sequential histories. • Provision of irrelevant information.• Difficulty in understanding questions and responding to information

quickly.• Inability to deal with more than one question or task at a time.• Repetition of phrases in conversation.• Lack of understanding or vagueness.• Difficulty in following straightforward instructions.• Poor planning and sequencing abilities.• Difficulty in understanding abstract concepts such as time, distance

or directions.• Confusion about times of appointments.


Other things to consider when identifying the presence of a learning disability

• Ask the person if they have a learning disability or autism; educational history, support needs.

• Can the person recall facts about themselves (where they live, their birthday how old they are)?

• Can the person read, write or tell the time?• Is the person known to the Learning Disabilities service - do they

have a support worker, social worker, community nurse, key worker or psychiatrist?

• Ask if the person attends a day centre/specialist service


What is the evidence?

It has been Identified that people with a learning disability are vulnerable in acute hospital settings: They are more likely to experience discrimination Treatment is often inadequate Care has often been found to be neglectful A lack of understanding and knowledge about people with a

learning disability Evidence of poor attitude and beliefs held by some health staff A lack of confidence when engaging with people who have a

learning disability Understanding the patient safety issues for PLD (NPSA 2004)Healthcare for All ( DoH 2008)Death By Indifference (MENCAP 2006)A Life Like Any Other (Healthcare Commission 2007)Valuing People Now (DoH 2009)


Health Inequalities

• People with learning disabilities have poorer health than their non-disabled peers.

• The inequalities start early in life.• They have a shorter life expectancy and

increased risk of early death.• Additionally their general health is not as

good.


Determinants of Health Inequalities

• Poverty, poor housing, unemployment, social disconnectedness, overt discrimination

• Genetics and biological factors• Communication and access health literature• Diet, exercise, obesity and underweight• Access to healthcare- consent issues


What are the Health Issues

• Heart and circulatory disorders (22%)- still less than general population• Respiratory Disease- most frequently final event leading to death• Oral health • Diabetes• Gastro- oesophageal Reflux Disease (GORD)• Constipation• Osteoporosis• Endocrine Disorders• Sensory Impairments• Physical Impairments• Mental Health issues and Challenging Behaviour• Dementia• Epilepsy• Cancer- (20%) particularly Gastro-Intestinal cancer • High prevalence of helicobacter pylori (class 1 Carcinogen linked to stomach cancer,

gastric ulcer and lymphoma)• Weight- (17% underweight/2% general population)


Setting the scene

• Reports- Death By Indifference» Six Lives» Healthcare for All

Training, collect data, families as partners in care, assessment of needsOf PLD,LD Public Health Observatory, reasonable adjustments,Inspection and regulation, Directed Enhanced Services through CCGs,Involvement, Board reporting on reasonable adjustments (advocacy)

• Winterbourne View» Winterbourne Inquiry and Report

• CIPOLD Review


Needs and Challenges

Difficulty communicating and expressing needs and choices.

Difficulty understanding their diagnosis and treatment options.

Difficulty with adapting to a hospital environment and the expectations of hospital staff.

Difficulty reporting symptoms. More likely to express pain in ways that may be

difficult to interpret.


• Illnesses promptly recognised• Delays in Diagnosis• Difficulty with diagnosis• Problems with treatment• Multi-morbidity


Recommendations

• Use your LD register to alert• Good information sharing- tell the hospital!• Good co-ordination/ patient held records• Annual health checks• Adhere to the MCA• Use IMCA• Community DNACPR- use guidelines• Good record keeping


Reasonable Adjustments

Reasonable adjustments are thosenecessary changes to our normal routinepractices which support accessibility to ourservice.Some adjustments are relatively easy tomake where others may require morecreativity and forward planning.


Examples of Reasonable Adjustments

• First or last appointment, avoiding long waiting times• Flexible appointment times (Choice) to facilitate ‘expert carers’• Double appointments to allow for good communication• Multiple investigations arranged for the same day to avoid repeated visits

and additional anxiety• Support prior to the appointment, desensitisation in order to access the

hospital or receive treatment, teaching to facilitate consent• Robust planning of the episode of care• Make sure you know the individual’s needs- likes/dislikes, communication,

how they express pain • Never assume it is ‘just’ because of the learning disability- diagnostic

overshadowing• Have the right equipment available to avoid waiting and tell people what it is

for• Tell people what the plan is, include people in the decision making process


Communication

Communication- At least 50% of people with learning disabilities have significant communication difficulties. Expressive communication can be at different levels i.e. they may understand more or less than they appear from their verbal skills.

Address the communication needs of each individual as they vary.


Communication Tips

• May use Makaton or BSL, or communication aids- can a carer help?• Use simple everyday language• Allow sufficient time for the person to answer your question• Always speak to the person first• Speak clearly, not too fast, short plain sentences• Use simple terms- use visual aids to support• Use positive language where possible• Use anchor events • Use open ended questions as much as possible, closed to clarify• Try asking the same question in a different way• Ask them to explain to check understanding


Other factors

• Unpredictability breeds anxiety- explain things clearly

• Consider special needs- sensory impairments, physical access

• Allow enough time• Put them at ease• Invite someone to support them• Check understanding• Be aware of how you come across


Pain Assessment

Abbey Pain Tool or Dis-Dat:• Vocalisation• Facial expression• Change in body language• Behavioural change• Physiological change• Physical change


What is mental capacity?

• Mental capacity is the ability to make a decision• Capacity can vary over time• Capacity can vary depending on the decision to

be made• Physical conditions, such as location, can affect

a person’s capacity• Staff must not assume a lack of capacity

because of a person’s age, physical appearance, condition or an aspect of their behaviour


The five core principles(Code of Practice, Chapter 2)

1. A person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that they lack capacity.

2. A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable (doable) steps to help them to do so have been taken without success.

3. A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because they make an unwise decision.

4. An act done, or decision made, under this Act for or on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done, or made, in their best interests.

5. Before the act is done, or the decision is made, regard must be had to whether the purpose for which it is needed can be as effectively achieved in a way that is less restrictive of the person’s rights and freedom of action.


How to assess capacity(Code of Practice, 4.11-4.13)

• The two-stage test of capacity: is there an impairment of, or disturbance in, the

functioning of the person’s mind or brain? if so, is the impairment or disturbance sufficient to

cause the person to be unable to make that particular decision at the relevant time?

• Staff should always keep records of any assessment


Questions that must be considered when assessing capacity

Does the person have the ability to:

• understand the information?• retain information related to the decision?• use or assess the information while considering the

decision?• communicate the decision by any means?


Skills to support decision making

• Allow enough time• Explain things clearly• Use resources such as equipment (objects

of reference), easy read materials etc to help explain

• Utilise support (LD Liaison/ Community Team/ Carer)


IMCA Services

The NHS decision maker MUST refer any person whohas no ‘appropriate’ family and friends and lacks capacity to make adecision about either:• Serious medical treatment • Long term moves (more the 28 days in hospital/8 weeks in a care

home) • Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards The local authority/NHS decision maker MAY refer any person wholacks capacity to make a decision about either• Care review - with no ‘appropriate’ family or friends • Safeguarding referral - victim or alleged perpetrator, regardless of

family and friends


Voiceability

VoiceAbility SuffolkSt Clement's Hospital Foxhall RoadIpswichSuffolkIP3 8LS Tel: 01473 329671 Fax: 01473 274422Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Key Principles

To respect and uphold the rights of all people who have a learning disability when they come into

your practice To make reasonable adjustments in order to

support the delivery of equal treatment To start with the presumption that people with a

learning disability can be at the centre of decision making about their own care

Where a person with a learning disability is deemed to lack capacity: decisions about care are made in their best interests

Learning Disabilities and Autism Awareness

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