Top picks: Eight resources about disability

Summary

The 3 December is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. More than 1.3 billion people experience significant disability today, which represents 16% of the global population. Many persons with disabilities die earlier, are at increased risk of developing a range of health conditions, and experience more limitations in everyday functioning than the rest of the population.

To mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we are sharing eight resources, blogs and reports from the hub on improving care, treatment and outcomes for people with disabilities.

Content

1. Learning from safety incidents issue 13: Protecting people using wheelchairs

'Learning from safety incidents' resources are published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Each one briefly describes a critical issue—what happened, what the CQC and the provider have done about it, and the steps you can take to avoid it happening in your service. This edition is about ensuring the safety of people using wheelchairs in health and social care.

2. Tommy Jessop: Why I investigated hospital care for people like me

People with a learning disability are more than twice as likely to die from avoidable causes than the rest of the population. Actor Tommy Jessop and BBC Panorama investigated some of the stories of families who say they were let down by their medical care.

3. WHO - Global report on health equity for persons with disabilities

People with disabilities have the right to the highest standard of health, however, this report by the World Health Organization (WHO) demonstrates that while some progress has been made in recent years, many people with disabilities continue to die earlier and have poorer health than others. The report demonstrates how these poor health outcomes are due to unfair conditions faced by people with disabilities in all areas of life, including in the health system itself.

4. Towards a social model approach? : British and Dutch disability policies in the health sector compared

This study looked at nursing within the UK and The Netherlands' health sectors, which are both highly regulated with policies to increase inclusiveness. It aimed to investigate the interplay between employment conditions and policy measures at sectoral level, in order to identify how these both facilitate and limit employment participation for disabled workers.

5. Tanni Grey-Thompson: NHS leaves the disabled feeling ‘they don’t count

When the Paralympian and television presenter Tanni Grey-Thompson found she was pregnant in 2001, she went to see her doctor. “The first thing I was offered was a termination,” she says, “because people like me shouldn’t be allowed to have children.” In this Times article, she says that for disabled people, “the relationship with the NHS can be quite mixed”.

6. My Involvement Profile (Shaping Our Lives)

Shaping Our Lives is a non-profit, user-led group, led by disabled people and service users. They want to make sure everyone can have their say, especially those from marginalised groups who often face barriers to getting involved. The My Involvement Profile was designed by disabled people. Involvement activities enable people to influence and improve policies and services that affect their lives, like health or social care. Involvement can mean sharing your experiences and opinions in a focus group, a patient involvement forum, or a research study. It’s made up of two simple template forms and can help you keep a record of your involvement activities, keep a list of your access and support requirements so you don’t have to keep repeating them, and each section has help notes to assist you in completing it if you need them.

7. NHS England Learning Disability Improvement Standards project

This national data collection project has been commissioned by NHS England (NHSE) and is run by the NHS Benchmarking Network (NHSBN). The aim of the project is to understand the extent to which organisations are complying with the NHSE Learning Disability Improvement Standards, and to identify improvement opportunities.

8. The King's Fund: Towards a new partnership between disabled people and health and care services getting our voices heard

Disabled people's voices need to be valued and prioritised in the planning and delivery of health and care services. This long read sets out the findings of research carried out by The King's Fund and Disability Rights UK into how disabled people are currently involved in health and care system design, and what good might look like.