Improving Access To Mental Health Services For People With Learning Disabilities

The Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities are looking at how effective mental health services are in England, in supporting people with learning disabilities.

They would welcome your views if you:

• have a learning disability,
• work with people who have a learning disability, or
• are a family carer who has supported someone with a learning disability to access mental health services.

They want to know what you think does/doesn’t work well and how access to mental health services for people with learning disabilities could be improved.

Up to 40% of people with learning disabilities experience mental health difficulties. However, they are often unable to get support from appropriate services. Many services strive to be accessible to this group of people, but many are still excluded.

They want to understand experiences of using mental health support services and identify the pathways people with learning disabilities use in order to access good mental health support.

Your views will be used to develop some core principles for workers to work towards to promote good mental health and wellbeing.

Can you help us?

They would really welcome your views about the mental health services provided to people with learning disabilities.

You could help by:
• completing the easy read questionnaire for people with learning disabilities (see attached),  http://www.choiceforum.org/docs/erq.docx
• completing the online questionnaire for family carers or people who work with people with learning disabilities,
• answering some questions over the phone.

The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Please forward it on to anyone who you think will find it of interest.

The survey closes on Friday 24th May 2013.

You may have received an invitation to be interviewed on a separate study by our partners in Kings College regarding Improving Access to Psychological Therapies.

This online survey is a different study looking at all mental health services provided to people with learning disabilities.

For further information or to arrange a telephone interview please get in touch with me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Christine-Koulla Burke
Senior Development Manager
Tel 020 7803 1142
Email cburke@fpld.org.uk
Website www.learningdisabilities.org.uk

Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities
Colechurch House
1 London Bridge Walk
London SE1 2SX