Equality and Human Rights Commission

This is a set of training materials designed for use in training sessions provided to frontline workers – primarily health and social care workers – who are supporting people with a learning disability. The training covers:

• basic knowledge of human rights
• how the Human Rights Act (HRA) relates to people with a learning disability, and
• making changes to practical work to better respect human rights.

Readers should look first at the document Trainer’s notes: Human rights and people with learning disabilities. This document explains the suggested structure of the training and the ways in which the other documents can be used as aids during training or hand outs. The stated audience comprises chief executives of Primary Care Trusts, NHS Trusts, Strategic Health Authorities and Care Trusts, directors of adult and of children’s social services. The materials will also be of interest to those involved in service delivery and to trainers.
 

• People with learning disabilities and their families have the same human rights as everyone else.
• Human rights can assist support workers in improving service delivery.
• Training support workers on human rights can assist them in improving service delivery and in ensuring the rights of the people they work with are respected.
   

This is a set of materials designed for use in training provided to frontline workers – primarily health and social care workers – who are supporting people with a learning disability. The materials are comprehensive – and in many cases could be used exactly as suggested to deliver good training sessions. They could also be adapted or added to to deliver more tailored training sessions.

This review has grouped and ordered the different documents according to their function – as such, it differs in its order to the list of documents on the Department of Health website.

Trainer’s notes: Human rights and people with learning disabilities (61 pages)

Although this appears last on the list of documents readers should look at this document first. It is the core of the materials and explains how the package fits together. It provides a suggested structure for a one-day training session. The session’s learning outcomes are that participants will:

• gain a basic knowledge of what human rights are
• know how the Human Rights Act relates to people with a learning disability, and
• reflect on how they can change their practical work to better respect the human rights of people they support.

The document includes an overview of the training session, learning outcomes (as above), a plan with timings, and detailed notes for the trainer. It explains the ways in which the other documents can be used as aids during training or hand outs. Many of the other documents are included in this as appendices. The document includes five appendices:

1. Background information on human rights

This is intended to provide basic information for trainers. It covers:

• underlying principles of human rights
• international human rights treaties
• an explanation of the Human Rights Act, covering what it means for public authorities, its aims, and the rights contained in the Act, including further details on those rights particularly relevant for people with learning disabilities, and
• an explanation of absolute rights and limited rights.

2. Case scenarios and commentary

This provides five fictional scenarios for use in the training. The scenarios represent realistic situations and difficulties that arise in the course of work with people with learning disabilities. In each case a commentary is provided about the human rights implications of the scenario. The scenarios concern:

• Anna, whose epilepsy suggests she needs a support worker present when she baths
• Anil, who has limited communication skills and whose GP cannot understand him
• Jo, who needs strict diet control to maintain a healthy weight – her food, and that of her flat mate, has been locked away by support workers
• Everton, who needs two support workers to go out – which is not always possible, and
• Rowena, who lives in a nursing home and who would like to stay in bed in the morning longer than the home’s staff routines dictate.

3. Cards

These list human rights and can be printed for the training session.

4. Case library

This contains legal cases and other experiences that trainers may find useful. They provide examples of ways in which human rights have been used in practice to challenge poor treatment and/or improve the lives of people with learning disabilities.

5. Further resources

This provides references for resources on human rights and learning disability, covering general reading, further reading, useful organisations and case law resources.

The document also includes slides from a power point presentation to accompany the training session (see below).

Human rights and people with learning disabilities – power point presentation (32 slides)

This is a power point presentation to accompany the training session outlined in the document Trainer’s notes: Human rights and people with learning disabilities.

Handouts

The materials include a number of handouts to accompany the training session:

Human rights and people with learning disabilities training materials: Case scenarios (4 pages)

This outlines the five fictional scenarios. As a handout to stimulate discussion it does not include the commentary that is found in Appendix 2 of Trainer’s notes: Human rights and people with learning disabilities.

Human Rights Act (4 pages)

This is an overview of the Human Rights Act (HRA), which can be used as a handout. It covers:

• the legal changes brought in by the HRA – specifically the ability to being court proceedings against public bodies that have breached rights covered by the HRA
• the relationship of the HRA with the European Convention on Human Rights
• the reasons why the HRA is relevant to people with learning disabilities, their support workers and service providers
• the rights covered by the HRA and the limitations that may be legitimately placed on them, and
• the implications of the HRA for public authorities and for health and social care professionals.

The document includes a useful list of steps that those working with people with learning disabilities can take to ensure their work complies with the HRA.

Further resources on human rights and learning disability (4 pages)

This is the same as Appendix 5 of Trainer’s notes: Human rights and people with learning disabilities.

The Human Rights Act and learning disability: Some relevant issues (4 pages)

This presents, in tabular form, a list of rights contained in the HRA and possible situations in which they might be relevant.

Human Rights Materials for use by People with Learning Disabilities (15 pages)

This document outlines research that informed the above materials. The research looked at existing materials relating to human rights issues produced for use by people with learning disabilities. A self-advocacy group was asked to review 21 documents. Their discussions are presented in this document. The research also looked at two projects using human rights either in training or as an operating principle for risk assessment or risk management. The document makes recommendations for the development of future materials.

Human Rights for People with Learning Disabilities - Easy read (18 pages)

This is an Easy read version of Human Rights Materials for use by People with Learning Disabilities. It explains why the research was carried out; summarises the key findings of the self advocacy group; and presents the recommendations for producing future materials.

Key practice issues

The materials cover practice issues arising in health and social care for people with learning disabilities.

For example, in relation to the right not to be subject to inhuman or degrading treatment, these include:

• physical or psychological abuse
• neglect e.g. bed sores, not being fed properly
• washing or dressing without regard to dignity
• public authorities failing to protect learning disabled people from abuse by e.g. relatives, carers
• poor conditions in institutional settings.

In relation to the right to respect for private and family life, these include:

• restrictions on making personal choices and decisions e.g. about day to day activities
• independent living
• personal and sexual relationships
• physical and psychological well-being
• privacy e.g. being washed by a member of the opposite sex
• learning disabled parents having their children taken into care
• separation of families due to residential care placements
• restrictions on family visits or contact while in hospital/residential care
• participation in social and recreational activities, community life
• abortion, sterilisation
• cultural and other needs e.g. religious practices, dietary requirements
• access to personal information
• closure of residential care homes

Date of review

March 2012

We hope that you found the resource helpful and easy to use. Please let us know about other guidance or references that you think we should include. Send us your feedback.