People with learning disabilities have some of the poorest health outcomes in Scotland and die on average 20 years earlier than the rest of the population. Adults with learning disabilities are twice as likely to die from preventable illnesses. (Scottish Government, 2023)
Delivering equal health for people with learning disabilities requires many coordinated actions, including learning, education and training. On this page we have collated a range of relevant resources to help support this vision.
Some of the links and resources provided below lead to external websites/sources that were not created by NES. These are provided for your information only and their inclusion does not mean NES recommends or endorses the content.
Essentials of Learning Disability
Essentials of Learning Disability (EOLD) is a suite of eLearning modules for health and social care professionals and everyone who has contact with people with learning disabilities. Many of the modules available are relevant to improving healthcare and healthcare experiences.
Explore EOLD here: Essentials of Learning Disability | Turas | Learn
Leaning Bytes
Two “Learning Bytes” – that take the form of eLearning modules – are available. These are intended for staff involved in supporting people with learning disabilities to access healthcare in a variety of settings and environments. Please note these resources pre-date EOLD. Whilst the Learning Bytes might still be useful, we recommend you explore what is available in EOLD before completing them.
Learning Byte 1: Improving healthcare access and experiences for people with learning disabilities
This Learning Byte enables learning about the health needs of people with learning disabilities and how to improve access to healthcare screening or treatment using reasonable adjustments and trauma informed approaches.
Learning Byte 2: Supporting the healthcare needs of people with learning disabilities in hospital
This Learning Byte enables learning for support staff in acute or other hospital settings to understand, identify and respond to the communication and physical health care needs of people with learning disabilities.
There are an exceptionally high number of people who have a learning disability who also have health needs around maintaining and protecting body shape.
The learning programme “Your Posture Matters: An introduction to postural care for people with movement difficulties and those who support them” aims to
aims to increase your understanding of postural care, develop a deeper understanding of how changes in body shape can be prevented and gain confidence to help you deliver optimal care.
Access it here: Your Posture Matters | Turas | Learn
This film from the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory (SLDO) shares evidence about the avoidable deaths of children and young people with learning disabilities and will support your learning for young people transitioning into adult services. Access it here:
Essentials of Learning Disability
Essentials of Learning Disability (EOLD) is a suite of eLearning modules for health and social care professionals and everyone who has contact with people with learning disabilities. Many of the modules available are relevant to supporting and improving mental health and wellbeing e.g. trauma informed practice, dementia and psychological care and wellbeing.
Explore EOLD here: Essentials of Learning Disability | Turas | Learn
In the Scottish Annual Health Checks section of this site, we have two related pages:
Health Screening Resources | Turas | Learn contains a range of resources, from different partners and organisations, that can be used to support learning about health screening.
Information about specific conditions | Turas | Learn signposts to information about a range of conditions.