This blog introduces a new Learning Disability England project, funded by Macmillan Cancer Support, looking at how cancer care can be improved for people with learning disabilities from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities.
Hello, my name is Kumudu and I am a self-advocate on the Rep Body at Learning Disability England.
Hi, my name is Annabelle and I have just joined the staff team at Learning Disability England as a Project Coordinator.
We are writing this blog together to tell you about the new project that we are working on.
For a long time, Learning Disability England’s members have been advocating for better healthcare for people with learning disabilities.
The Good Lives framework is about making sure people have not just a happy life, but a healthy life too.
If you have a learning disability and are from a Black, Asian or a minoritised ethnic community, you might face what Saba Salman calls ‘double discrimination’ in her new book.
This means your learning disability and your ethnicity together might make it less likely for you to receive good healthcare.
Kumudu worked alongside Saba on this book.
He said we have to be open and honest about this, even if it’s upsetting because otherwise no-one else will learn about it and nothing will change.
You can watch a conversation with Kumudu and Aisha Edwards, members of Learning Disability England that both feature in the book below.
Self-advocate Sunny Sokhal told us that:
“We need to ensure our voices are heard so that no one in our communities is left behind or suffers in silence.”
Learning Disability England have received some money from Macmillan Cancer Support to run a project to look at how cancer care can go wrong for people who face double discrimination, and how we can make it better.
We will be working in partnership with The Race Equality Foundation.
“Not all doctors and nurses will understand other people’s cultures if they don’t come from that background. Unless you are walking in other people’s shoes, how do you know what it’s like?”
The project is trying to help doctors and nurses walk in other people’s shoes, but it’s not just about hospitals. It’s about social care too.
The project will be led by a working group of self-advocates, family carers, researchers and clinicians who have experience of cancer care.
Together, the working group will make accessible, and culturally appropriate resources to support people with learning disabilities going through cancer care, and to help their supporters too.
The working group will plan some training for healthcare professionals about how best to support people with learning disabilities from a Black, Asian or from a minoritised ethnic community going through cancer care.
Then, it will be shared with local groups who will work with NHS trusts to deliver it.
The project will help doctors and nurses ask the right questions and give the right care in the right way.
Below you can watch a video all about the project.
If you or a loved one have experienced cancer and are from a Black, Asian or minoritised ethnic background, and would like to share your story, please get in touch with us.
Email – info@ldengland.org.uk
Telephone – 0300 1110444