Learning disabilities and health equality

Question 1

Define learning difficulty?

Answer 1

Disorder that causes child/adolescent to have problems processing a specific area of skill/life

Question 2

Define learning disability?

Answer 2

Medical term that describes when school-age children have significantly reduced ability to understand new/complex information and to learn new skills, and reduced ability to cope independently with everyday life

Question 3

Comparing learning disabilities and difficulties, do they affect general intelligence and IQ?

Answer 3

Learning disabilities affect general intelligence and IQ, clinical term is ‘impaired intelligence’

Learning difficulties don’t affect general intelligence or IQ

Question 4

Is a learning disability a lifelong condition or can it be cured?

Answer 4

In all cases, learning disability is a lifelong condition that cannot be cured

Question 5

When does a learning disability develop in an individual, and why?

Answer 5

Learning disability develops before/during/soon after birth

Because brain is still developing and can be affected

Question 6

How is learning disability severity classed?

Answer 6

By intelligence quotient (IQ)

Question 7

What are the 4 classes that define learning disability severity in terms of IQ?

Answer 7

Mild: 50-60
Moderate: 35-40
Severe: 20-34
Profound: less than 20

Question 8

Describe the vocabulary of a person with a learning disability, and what disadvantage does this cause?

Answer 8

Limited vocabulary to being non-verbal

Produces communication and social difficulties

Question 9

Give 2 examples of what should be avoided in your communication style to support people with learning disabilities?

Answer 9

Abbreviations

Abstract sayings

Question 10

Give 3 examples of what should be used in your communication style to support people with learning disabilities?

Answer 10

Sign language

Picture cards

Short sentences

Question 11

Give 3 examples of how you can support a person with learning disabilities that cause processing delays?

Answer 11

Constantly check that you are being understood

Avoid making assumptions

Pre-plan activities

Question 12

Why is useful to pre-plan activities for people with learning disabilities?

Answer 12

Can support them as they have processing delays, so this gives person more time to process something

Question 13

Give 2 examples of how you can support a person with learning disabilities, when they have problems with attention and organisation?

Answer 13

consider any distractions in the environment

be person-centred by constantly engaging with them and their significant others

Question 14

Give 2 examples of how you can support a person with learning disabilities, when they have problems with cognitive development and memory?

Answer 14

use accessible info that they can refer back to

use documentation such as hospital passports, communication profiles

Question 15

Does a person with a learning disability have an increased risk of other mental and physical conditions?

Answer 15

Yes

Question 16

What kind of adjustments are made to support a person with a learning disability, and what is their function?

Answer 16

Reasonable adjustments

Prevent your disability putting you at a disadvantage compared with others who are not disabled

Question 17

Define reasonable adjustment?

Answer 17

Changes that organisations, people providing services, or people providing public functions have to make for you

Question 18

Which act of parliament requires reasonable adjustments to be made, and what do these allow equal access to?

Answer 18

Equality act

states to provide equal access to health and social care including the duty to provide reasonable adjustments to your services

Question 19

What is the LeDeR and its function?

Answer 19

Service improvement NHS programme to make services better for people with a learning disability and autistic people

Question 20

What demographic does the LeDeR collect info from, and what is this info used for?

Answer 20

Provides info about deaths of people aged 4 and over that were notified to the programme

to improve care and prevent premature mortality, as it showed that ~50% deaths were avoidable

Question 21

Compare the average age of death of a person with and without learning disabilities, and why does this health disparity occur?

Answer 21

Average age of death is 62 yrs, due to poorer mental and physical health, so they die earlier and from different causes to rest of population (82 yrs)

Question 22

According to the LeDeR, what were the 5 leading causes of death in people over 4 with learning disabilities?

Answer 22

Covid-19
Circulatory system disease
Respiratory system disease
Cancer
Nervous system disease

Question 23

According to the LeDeR, what were the 5 most frequent conditions that people over 4 with learning disabilities had who died?

Answer 23

Epilepsy
Cardiovascular conditons
Mental health conditions
Sensory impairment
Dysphagia