Learning Disability

Fundamental changes to services for people with learning disabilities have been evident in the United Kingdom due to policy reviews such as Valuing People (Department of Health [DoH], 2001) and Fulfilling Promises (Welsh Assembly, 2001) claims Gates (2007). However nurses who do not possess adequate knowledge of learning disability often lack the confidence of working with such individuals which often means individuals with learning disabilities do not gain access to adequate and appropriate health care services (Davies 2008). The purpose of this assignment is to produce a case study of an individual with a learning disability in which factors that influence the health and health choices of the individual will be examined. Health education, lpromotion and relevant legislation will be explored along with the challenges faced in meeting the needs of different people with varying abilities. The term learning disability will be explored together with what it means for healthcare providers. Each of the topics will be addressed from a theoretical perspective then linked to the patient. To maintain confidentiality the patient’s name has been changed to a pseudonym, in order to conform to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code of Conduct (NMC, 2008).

The patient who will be used for the basis of this case study is Mr Jones a 62 year old gentleman with severe learning disability who was met in practice in a rehabilitation unit whilst recovering from a cerebrovascular accident. Whilst Mr Jones had a long history of accessing health and social care services because of his learning disability the main reason for his need to access health services on this occasion was his stroke. As in the past Mr Jones was reliant upon others to recognise that he needed help with his health problems and it was these individuals who got him seen by a doctor who then referred him to the hospital for treatment and rehabilitation  
The Department of Health (2001) defined   learning...