A Critical Analysis of the Impact of ‘Valuing People Now’ (Department of Health 2009) on Adults with Learning Disabilities.
A critical analysis of the impact of ‘Valuing People Now’ (Department of Health 2009) on adults with learning disabilities.
This essay will look at the impact of the 2009 Department of Health (DoH) policy, ‘Valuing People Now’ on the lives of adults with learning disabilities, in terms of the four key principles of legal and civil rights, inclusion, choice and independence. The focus of the essay will be on the health care that this client group receive from mainstream NHS services. This is because the Government proposed that people with learning disabilities would be supported to live as normal a life as possible, instead of being segregated from the community, only able to access specialist services. Policy can be seen as a statement of intent made by the political party in government in response to a particular problem or issue. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health policy as a series of decisions and actions, which are put in place in order to achieve particular societal health care needs. Policy informs people by setting out plans for the short term as well as future targets, defining the roles and priorities of the different groups involved. However, this top down approach often leads to a gap between policy and practice. Compared with the general population, adults with a learning disability experience double the amount of ill health during their lifetime, as well as being four times as likely to die from preventable causes (Disabilities Rights Commission 2006). According to the Department of Health, 2001, learning disability is comprised of impaired intelligence and impaired social functioning both of which started before adulthood. However, this is by no means a homogenous group and the labels mild, moderate and severe learning disabilities cannot possibly describe the varying impairments that individuals may have. As a consequence, this diversity means that the support that each person needs will be different despite
This essay will look at the impact of the 2009 Department of Health (DoH) policy, ‘Valuing People Now’ on the lives of adults with learning disabilities, in terms of the four key principles of legal and civil rights, inclusion, choice and independence. The focus of the essay will be on the health care that this client group receive from mainstream NHS services. This is because the Government proposed that people with learning disabilities would be supported to live as normal a life as possible, instead of being segregated from the community, only able to access specialist services. Policy can be seen as a statement of intent made by the political party in government in response to a particular problem or issue. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health policy as a series of decisions and actions, which are put in place in order to achieve particular societal health care needs. Policy informs people by setting out plans for the short term as well as future targets, defining the roles and priorities of the different groups involved. However, this top down approach often leads to a gap between policy and practice. Compared with the general population, adults with a learning disability experience double the amount of ill health during their lifetime, as well as being four times as likely to die from preventable causes (Disabilities Rights Commission 2006). According to the Department of Health, 2001, learning disability is comprised of impaired intelligence and impaired social functioning both of which started before adulthood. However, this is by no means a homogenous group and the labels mild, moderate and severe learning disabilities cannot possibly describe the varying impairments that individuals may have. As a consequence, this diversity means that the support that each person needs will be different despite
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