Learning Disabilities

Health and Social Services Working in Partnership

• What does the Learning Disability Team do?
• What services do we provide?
• Who is on the team?
• Who can make a referral to the team?
• What happens next?

What does the Learning Disability Team do?

The team provides a service to adults in Moray who have a diagnosed learning disability, and to their families and carers.

Our aim is to enable all adults with a learning disability to lead as full a life as possible and for them, together with their parents and carers, to reach their full potential.

What Services do we Provide?

• Helping people with a learning disability to live independently by arranging for support in their own home and in the community.
• Support people with a learning disability who live with carers by arranging support at home or by providing respite services.
• Arrange residential care for people with a learning disability who need it.
• Support people with a learning disability who have specialist health needs.
• Support people with a learning disability who may have a mental health problem.
• Help people with a learning disability to remain as independent as possible.
• To provide information to people with learning disabilities to help them achieve a healthy lifestyle.

Who is on the Team?

Social Work

• Carry out assessment of needs for adults with a diagnosed learning disability.
• Assess individual needs and plan the support they need to live safely e.g. respite, day centre etc.
• Help people access local voluntary services.
• Provide a duty social worker for people without a social worker.

Community Learning Disability Nurses

• Aim to make sure that people with a learning disability have access to medical advice and care when they need it.
• Assessment of daily living skills.
• Involved in the provision of specialist health clinics for people with a learning disability.
• Educating and promoting healthy lifestyles.

Psychologists

• Carry out intellectual assessment on people with a learning disability.
• Provide staff training for carers of people with a learning disability.
• Support other health care professionals and work individually with clients on issues such as sexuality and challenging behaviour.

Speech and Language Therapists

• Carry out communication assessment and intervention
• Assess and offer advice regarding eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties
• Provide training on communication
• Offer multi-disciplinary workshops on eating, drinking and swallowing

Psychiatrist

• Provides a consultation-based service for clients with both a learning disability and mental health problems incorporating medication reviews

Dietetics

• Provides dietary assessment.
• Staff training and support for special dietary needs.

Physiotherapy

• Involved in the assessment of people with a learning disability.
• Provide treatment programs to cover all aspects of physical mobility.

Occupational Therapy

• Assessment of functional ability of everyday tasks.
• Provision of specialist equipment where required.
• Advice and guidance regarding environmental issues.

Who can make a referral to the team?

Anyone can make a referral to the Community Learning Disability Team.

You can make a referral by phone, letter or email.

Please note referrals are only considered for adults who have a diagnosis of a learning disability

What happens next?

• Worker from the team will make contact with regards to your initial referral to ensure that our service is right for you
• A team member will then carry out a fuller assessment to find out what therapies or support could benefit you.
• We will listen to your views and those of your carer, if you have one, throughout this process.
• We will treat information confidentially within the team. If we need to share information outside the team, we will talk with you about this first.