5 Steps to Health Booklet for people with learning disabilities

The 5 Steps to Health booklet, produced by the NHS and the Merseyside-based charity Options for Supported Living, is a guide to supporting good health for people with learning disabilities to support them, their friends and families and other professionals. The guide uses the data from the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review Programme (LeDeR) 2019 amongst other data sources.

On average a person with a learning disability has a life expectancy over 20 years lower than the general population, whilst an individual with a profound learning disability has less than half the life expectancy of the general population. Many of the factors that can contribute this situation are tragically straightforward to address, such as ensuring better access to quality healthcare and greater understanding amongst professionals.

The booklet is a useful guide to supporting access to quality healthcare covering topics such as:

• Learning Disability Annual Health Checks and health action plans
• Reasonable adjustments
• Hospital passports
• Sepsis and Pneumonia
• The Mental Capacity Act

For SENCOs this is a useful guide to signpost to parents and young people as they enter year 9 or above. There is an easy read version which some may find more accessible too. You can request copies of the booklets, via 5stepstohealth@ofsl.org.uk and specify the qualities of guides and Easy Read guides you require.