Mental health support needs of people with a learning difficulty: a medical or a social model?

Abstract

People with learning difficulties, like all disabled people, face social oppression. Much recent policy and practice are underpinned by at least some understanding of this oppression, and the social model of disability has been influential in discussions of services and supports for people with learning difficulties. However, in the area of mental health, the picture is somewhat different. This paper argues that the medical model has predominated in discussions of mental health support for people with learning difficulties, and that a social model approach could have much to offer. The paper draws on an ongoing action research study in which service providers, families and young people with learning difficulties are working together to articulate what is needed, in order to find routes to improve the support offered to young people with learning difficulties and mental health support needs.

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to all the service providers and commissioners in Somerset, a county where there is much good practice to build on. A special thank you goes to all the young people and families who have taken part in the project, and especially to the young people’s research group. Although not co‐authors on this occasion, they have talked and co‐presented about these ideas, and we hope they will approve of the current paper.

Notes

Connexions is a generic service provided for all young people between the ages of 16 and 19, to support and guide them as they move towards further education and work. For young people with additional needs, the target age range is from 16 to 25. In Somerset, four new transitions personal advisors have been appointed to provide a person‐centred guidance service to young people with learning difficulties.