The Reaching out to families project set out to find new ways of addressing the inequalities that people with learning disabilities from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities and their families experience in health and social care. The project paid particular attention to the role of third sector organisations and used action learning techniques to identify good practice. During the project it became clear that many families are left frustrated by their contact with statutory social care and health services. The identified themes revolved both around culturally competent practice and basic good practice around contact with families. This guidance was produced in order to support practitioners to respond effectively to people and families from BME communities. It comprises 3 parts: essential do’s; essential don’ts; and things to check out. In addition, 2 core elements of good practice with people with learning disabilities from BME communities which underpin all others are emphasised. Firstly, it should not be assumed that people from the same minority community share the same beliefs, aspirations, or social circumstances; person-centred approaches are central to an effective response. Secondly, it is important that practitioners go beyond a person-centred approach and consider the whole family.
The Reaching out to families project set out to find new ways of addressing the inequalities that people with learning disabilities from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities and their families experience in health and social care. The project paid particular attention to the role of third sector organisations and used action learning techniques to identify good practice. During the project it became clear that many families are left frustrated by their contact with statutory social care and health services. The identified themes revolved both around culturally competent practice and basic good practice around contact with families. This guidance was produced in order to support practitioners to respond effectively to people and families from BME communities. It comprises 3 parts: essential do’s; essential don’ts; and things to check out. In addition, 2 core elements of good practice with people with learning disabilities from BME communities which underpin all others are emphasised. Firstly, it should not be assumed that people from the same minority community share the same beliefs, aspirations, or social circumstances; person-centred approaches are central to an effective response. Secondly, it is important that practitioners go beyond a person-centred approach and consider the whole family.
Subject terms:
learning disabilities, person-centred care, social care, social care provision, black and minority ethnic people, families, health care, good practice;
The Department of Health grant provided funding to look at how to aggregate the hopes, needs, and wishes of people involved in Person Centred Planning and how to use this evidence to improve services. A process and database have been developed to receive information from Person Centred Planning plans. This pack provides information and engages managers and commissioners in implementing improvements in individual and collective service delivery. It helps to build a blue print for the future shape of service by collating an evidence base. The evidence base consists of detailed information about people’s needs and aspirations that have been collected from person centred plans.
The Department of Health grant provided funding to look at how to aggregate the hopes, needs, and wishes of people involved in Person Centred Planning and how to use this evidence to improve services. A process and database have been developed to receive information from Person Centred Planning plans. This pack provides information and engages managers and commissioners in implementing improvements in individual and collective service delivery. It helps to build a blue print for the future shape of service by collating an evidence base. The evidence base consists of detailed information about people’s needs and aspirations that have been collected from person centred plans.
...of the Valuing People Support Team and the National Institute for Mental Health in England by the Foundation for People with LearningDisabilities working in partnership with the South West London NHS Mental Health Trust and St George's Hospital Medical School.
Green Light is a framework and self audit toolkit for improving mental health support services for people with learning disabilities. It provides a picture of what services should be aiming to achieve, including quality outcomes, and a self assessment checklist. It is aimed at Mental Health Local Implementation Teams and Learning Disability Partnership Boards. The pack was produced on behalf of the Valuing People Support Team and the National Institute for Mental Health in England by the Foundation for People with LearningDisabilities working in partnership with the South West London NHS Mental Health Trust and St George's Hospital Medical School.
Extended abstract:
Author
COLE Angela, GREGORY Margaret.
Title
Green Light for mental health: a service improvement toolkit.
Publisher
Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, 2004
Summary
Green Light is a framework and self audit toolkit for improving mental health support services for people with learning disabilities, providing a picture of what services should be aiming to achieve, including quality outcomes, and a self assessment checklist, and aimed at Mental Health Local Implementation Teams and Learning Disability Partnership Boards.
Contents
Part A is a guide to the pack itself and to improving services and support for people with mental health problems who have learning disabilities. Section One introduces Green Light, telling users about the pack and what it's for and giving some ideas about getting the most benefit from the toolkit. Section Two is an easy to read summary designed primarily for use with and by people with learning disabilities. Section Three has two parts which, when added together, give an overall picture of what services should be aiming to achieve. The first gives the national policy context and highlights what the government expects of services in relation to people with mental health problems who have learning disabilities. The second is about quality outcomes for people with mental health problems who have learning disabilities and for their carers, from their own perspectives. Section Four creates a concrete picture of what needs to happen ‘out there' in the reality of services. It highlights key challenges for services in moving towards integrated mental health services for people with learning disabilities; explores what the national policy objectives actually look like in practice, i.e., accessible, integrated mental health support services, using examples from around the UK wherever possible. Section Five is about how to work out what needs to be sustained or changed locally. It introduces the self-assessment checklist and some ready-to-use survey tools which are found in Part B. The self-assessment checklist is at the core of the service improvement toolkit. There is guidance about getting information and evidence to underpin your local self-assessment, and about presenting findings to the Local Implementation Teams and Partnership Board. Part B – the toolkit – has four sections. Section One contains the self-assessment checklist and an action planning proforma. Section Two is a survey of in-patient experience Section Three is a survey of community support experiences. Section Four is a survey of carers' experiences. Throughout the guide there are quotations from the test sites and from people with mental health problems who have learning disabilities, which reinforce points in the text, and references to publications, resources and sources of information. These are listed at the end.
23 references
Subject terms:
learning disabilities, long term outcomes, quality assurance, vulnerable adults, vulnerable children, assessment;