The government are giving less money to people with a learning disability than they used to. This means that people with a learning disability have less support, and fewer activities to go to.
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In our research, we are finding out what helps people with learning disabilities to stay living in the community after moving out of hospital. We acknowledge, however, that there are factors making it more difficult for people to thrive in the community, and austerity might just be one of these. In this blog, I will explore how austerity is affecting the lives of people with learning disabilities, and at the end, I’ll point to further reading and watching in case you’re interested in finding out more.
So what is austerity? Well, I’m sure you’ll remember that in 2008 there was a global financial crisis. Unfortunately, this meant that many governments cut their public spending to try and reduce their overall levels of debt. One sector that was hit particularly hard in the UK was health and social care, and people with learning disabilities are among those who are most negatively affected. For example, these austerity measures in the UK mean that people with a disability living in poverty have lost around £4660 per year.
To find out more, I read a paper which brings together research from 11 different studies looking into how austerity affects people with learning disabilities. This paper is called ‘Austerity and the lives of people with learning disabilities. A thematic synthesis of current literature’ and was written by Melina Aikaterini Malli and colleagues in 2018. They found three main themes in the literature, and I’ll explore these in more detail below. These themes are 1) deprivation of autonomy, choice and social participation, 2) lowering of care quality and 3) being abandoned by the system.
Deprivation of autonomy, choice and social participation. For people with learning disabilities, autonomy and choice is maintained through having the right support. Due to the cuts talked about above, many people with learning disabilities now have less paid support, and rely more on family members or volunteers for their needs. Care from family members or volunteers was described as less effective in maintaining autonomy. This was because people with learning disabilities felt they should be grateful for the free support, creating an unequal relationship in which they did not feel able to assert their wants and needs. In addition, for many people, less paid support meant they were unable to attend activities in the community, leading to greater social isolation. Cuts in funding for such activities in day centres led to less availability of these activities anyway, further exacerbating the problem.
Lowering of care quality. Funding cuts also mean that even when people with learning disabilities have paid support, support workers are stretched thin and have less time for each person. This is not the fault of the support worker, but it does mean the person with learning disabilities must fit into the member of staff’s schedule and does not receive the person-centred support that they deserve. Further to this, although prevention is the core objective of many services, they now only have the resources to provide crisis intervention.
Being abandoned by the system (carers). One result of the situation described above is that many family members are becoming unpaid carers. However, they lack support, feel abandoned by the system, and are unable advocate for their loved ones needs due to the complex nature of the bureaucratic system. Their caring role has an impact on their own mental health and well-being, and puts a strain on their existing work commitments, as well as other family relationships. There is no respite, and this can lead to burnout or emotional exhaustion.
Overall, we can see that austerity has a huge impact on the lives of people with learning disabilities and those around them. Cuts to health and social care funding means that people with learning disabilities have less paid support, reduced autonomy, and fewer opportunities to engage in meaningful activities. This leads to increasing social isolation and may affect the person’s sense of belonging and identity. The lack of support for unpaid carers affects not only their life but the life of the person they are caring for. We hope that our research will highlight the support that people with learning disabilities need to live a better life in the community, as well as the barriers that they may face. Thank you for reading!
Further reading and watching
Malli, M. A., Sams, L., Forrester-Jones, R., Murphy, G., & Henwood, M. (2018). Austerity and the lives of people with learning disabilities. A thematic synthesis of current literature. Disability & Society, 33(9), 1412-1435
Neil Carpenter talks about case studies of people with learning disabilities affected by austerity Neil Carpenter, author of ‘Austerity’s Victims: Adults with a Learning Disability’ – Bing video
