Unmet needs
Registering individuals with LD
Data from the Quality Outcomes Framework (2019/20) showed that only 308,000 of the 1.2 million people with a LD in England were on the LD register. Being on the register makes it easier to access specific LD services and support. It also entitles people to annual health checks which are key to tackling some of the health inequalities facing people with LD.
Employment
Around 25% of working age adults with LD have a paid job (aged 18-64), compared with the general population average of 76% of working age adults (aged 16 to 64) in employment. Estimates suggest the majority of those with LD in employment (68.3%) are working less than 16 hours per week.
Cancer screening
National data has shown that people with LD are markedly less likely to receive cancer screenings than people without LD:
- Cervical cancer: In 2018 only 31% of eligible women with LD had received cervical smear tests, in contrast to 73.2% of women without LD.
- Breast cancer: In 2017/18, 52.5% of women with LD had been screened for breast cancer, compared to 68% of women without LD.
- Colorectal cancer: In 2019, of those eligible for a colorectal cancer screening, 77.8% of people with LD were screened, compared to 83.7% of those without.
Unpaid carers
The care needs of people with LD can be life-long, highly complex and at times very challenging. This can have adverse financial and health impacts on unpaid carers. For instance, just over half of unpaid carers looking after someone with LD have a household income below or around the poverty line, and score far lower than the national average on wellbeing measures, including loneliness and burnout. Insufficient support for unpaid carers has the potential to reduce the quality of care they can provide to individuals, or worse still, the possibility they are unable to continue providing care in the long-term.
Physical inactivity
People with learning disabilities are at increased risk of being overweight or obese compared to the general population, in particular women with LD.Estimates suggest around 37.5% of people with a learning disability are obese. High rates of obesity significantly contribute to the reduced life expectancy of the LD population. Data from the 2022/23 Sport England Active Lives Adult Survey, showed disabled adults are almost twice as likely as non-disabled adults to be physically inactive (43 per cent vs 23 per cent).The relatively high levels of physical inactivity, amongst those with disabilities, is an important unmet need given the negative health consequences related to physical inactivity.