Staying healthy
Being healthy means lots of things. It means, staying well, eating healthy food, and exercising.
It means managing health conditions like diabetes, epilepsy, or high blood pressure.
The Easy Health website has lots of useful easy read health information. There are leaflets, information sheets, and videos.
It has information on things like going to the dentist, going for an eye test, medications, and sex and relationships.
It also has information on mental health issues like anxiety and depression.
You have to sign up to the site. It is free to sign up. Then you can see all the information for free.
Click the button below to go to the website:
Annual health checks
Everyone with learning disabilities who is 14 years old or more should get an Annual Health Check.
This is done by your GP.
They can check your health. For example, they might take your blood pressure and check your heartbeat.
They will ask you about any health conditions you have, like diabetes.
They can make sure you are on the right medication.
Lots of people take medication.
Sometimes they take medication to help them stay calm.
This can be helpful, and can help people to get on with their lives.
Sometimes people might be on too much medication, and this makes them too sleepy or tired.
If someone has more medication than they need, we say they are over-medicated.
STOMP is a campaign to stop the over-medication of people with learning disabilities.
It stands for Stop the Over-Medication of People with learning disabilities.
You can find out more about their findings by clicking on the button below:
here is also a video on Youtube about STOMP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdiLYnHPMrs
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation have also written a report about STOMP. It is from the point of view of family carers.
People with learning disabilities die younger than other people.
his is not fair and not right.
The Leder Programme looks into why people with learning disabilities die young.
This is so they can learn from what is happening and make things better.
You can find out more about their findings by clicking on the button below:
Reasonable adjustments
It is a legal requirement that reasonable adjustments are made to support someone with a learning disability to access the right health services.
This will look different for everybody. It is important to think about what may help you, or the person you support, to get the right support.
The NHS has made some useful videos and guides to give more information about reasonable adjustments.
Click the link below to get this information.
Books Beyond Words – Supporting someone with their health.
Books Beyond Words was set up to help people who find pictures easier to understand than words.
They have developed a range of books to be used in different settings that cover a lot of different topics.
You can purchase individual books through their website. They also offer some stories you can download for free as well as some other resources.
What else do you want to know?
Legal stuff
You are here
Looking after myself
Practical stuff
