Admin To mark Learning Disability Week 2021, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Group launched ‘Living My Best Life’, an exciting new strategy, co-produced with people with learning disabilities, families and carers.
Living My Best Life is based around achieving five outcomes, all of which came from conversations with adults with learning disabilities. The strategy’s vision is that people with learning disabilities will be able to say “I feel safe. I am healthy. I achieve my goals. I love where I live. I enjoy my life.”
You can download Living My Best Life here: https://www.stoke.gov.uk/downloads/download/891/learning_disabilities_strategy
Alternatively, you can download the ‘Easy read’ strategy summary, written by Reach and also launched last week, here: https://equalpeopleinstoke.org/home/learning-disability-fortnight-2021/
Each day last week, as part of the launch of Living My Best Life, Reach, an independent self-advocacy project and part of Asist (Advocacy Services in Staffordshire) wrote a blog about one of the strategy’s five outcomes, using ideas and experiences people have shared as part of the strategy development work, and in other discussions over the years.
Today and tomorrow, as Learning Disability Week ends and Learning Disability Pride starts, we’re writing about the big ideas or cross-cutting themes that are important to making sure people with learning disabilities get the right support and services.
Today, we are writing about working together and staff training.
Reach members have told us just how important it is to make sure that staff have the right training, a lot of our members have helped to train staff and give them understanding about learning disabilities and working and communicating with people.
“Yes, staff should be trained to make sure they understand people’s needs, they should have someone with a learning disability doing the training though, they know how these things affect them better than others, it’s about lived experience.”
“They need this (training) so they can understand people and treat them better.”
“If you don’t treat people with dignity and respect they will lose confidence in you and will not reach out again.”
“They [health and social care staff] need know more ways of talking to people with learning disabilities and understand what they’re saying. That’s really important.”
The strategy calls for teams from different services to share information and work together and for all NHS staff have learning disability training. The strategy also says staff will support people in person centred ways, using their own skills, knowledge and experience to make sure people get the right services and support for them.
Many people have spoken up to Reach about staff working together.
“Communication. If services don’t talk to each, they don’t get the true picture”
“Services should phone each other and share information.”
The strategy introduces a community directory, a big book or list, that will have lots of information about different services, support and advice.
People told us, “having a big book of information about services and support, that’s a good idea.”
“This is good but what about people who can’t read? It should exist but they need to think about that one.”
