New Resources To Support The Everyday Mental Health Of People With Learning Disabilities

People with a learning disability can be more likely to experience poor mental health and new resources have been created to help social care staff make sure they get the support they need.

The resources, launched as part of Learning Disability Week, include a video that shares top tips for talking about mental health, two posters about what makes us feel worried and what makes us feel happy, and a wellbeing journal.

Staff can use the resources to prompt and facilitate conversations with people with a learning disability about their everyday mental health.

The resources were created after Skills for Care, in partnership with CHANGE and the Judith Trust, ran five co-production sessions with people with learning disabilities and support staff, to look at what support they need.

These open and honest sessions found that all too often people with a learning disability haven’t had a chance to heal from negative life experiences which might include abuse, grief and/or trauma, and, as a result, they live their everyday lives feeling scared, worried and/or anxious.

The sessions also confirmed that people with a learning disability don’t always have access to the support that they need to improve their mental health, and rarely have the opportunity to talk openly about their feelings.

The new resources are designed to help social care staff become more confident and knowledgeable to talk openly about mental health.

Download the resources, for free, from the Skills for Care website at: www.skillsforcare.org.uk/ImprovingMentalHealth