Psychotropic deprescribing in ethnic minority individuals with a learning disability requires a more nuanced approach (23 January 2025)

Summary

People from ethnic minority backgrounds who have a learning disability face ‘double discrimination’ when accessing healthcare services. Culturally sensitive psychotropic deprescribing is just one way this can be improved.

Content

Health inequalities are pervasive across our healthcare system, affecting different patients in different ways and requiring an increasingly nuanced approach to tackle them.

For individuals from an ethnic minority background, health inequalities are well documented. Evidence from the NHS Race and Health Observatory indicates that these individuals often receive poorer healthcare and experience worse health outcomes compared with their white counterparts.

People with a learning disability also experience inequitable health outcomes.

People from ethnic minority backgrounds who also have a learning disability may face ‘double discrimination’, encountering complex and significant barriers that shape their healthcare experiences. 

One area that has been of growing concern for this group is the overprescribing of psychotropic medicines. Psychotropic medicines are commonly prescribed to manage various mental health conditions and certain neurological disorders, such as epilepsy. 

People from ethnic minority backgrounds are at a greater risk of being prescribed psychotropic medicines to manage behaviours that challenge, with audits highlighting that these medicines are not reviewed as frequently as they should be. 

Overprescribing in this way not only exposes these individuals to unnecessary health risks, but also imposes significant burdens on them and their carers.