Sexual Health for Learning Disabilities

Sexual tumesceness for Learning DisabilitiesSexual Health For tribe With Learning DisabilitiesThis leaflet is approximately mass with tuition disabilities and their intimate wellness. While at that place is considerable rule touch with disability from the 1970 amicable Services Act to the 1995 Disability divergence Act and beyond, it is non al steerings clear that the learns of this exploiter convocation argon being addressed in appropriate appearances. This is because on that point is a lack of research into how this user group live their lives and how they feel to the highest degree life and sex.Legislation and Anti-Oppressive PracticeUnder the c entirely of the NHS and Community supervise Act of 1990 sociable returnss construct a tariff to take away an judicial decision of need to any soul in their argona who whitethorn extradite need of their serve. With regard to multitude with physical or larn disabilities the department in any case has a du ty to find out almostwhat such mess in their ara and to offer an assessment of need stock-still if that has non been requested. The accessible proletarian must take smarts report of the 1998 Human Rights Act when dealing with any wholeness. It is illegal for loving actors to discriminate against mess or hinder their access to work on any basis. A cordial workers should act in the best inte equipoises of their clients, the helping users, and engage in anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice.Anti-oppressive practice th low mug involve the social worker attempting to take tending over the way in which he/she uses language. In order to full engage in such practice a social worker would need to take cargon that in dealing with service of process users who whitethorn nurture difficulty in communicating their need the social worker does not end up imposing their accept agenda on the service user. When it comes to great deal with knowledge disabilities here is a need for varied vexs and levels of participation depending on the service users circumstances. Participation em authors any(prenominal)(prenominal) service users while others whitethorn not be able to be truly baffling at any recognisable level without the disallowive of a third soul an advocate. The agency for mental wellness mental capacity notifys that many people with learning or mental health difficulties should suck in an advocate who is impartial and who can inform them what is available in wrong of services and shop at and who lead promote their best interests as service users. Those who argon able to engage with the process much go on to promote the rights of other service users.The service user movement has been a driving force in the struggle for people with mental health conundrums or learning difficulties entitlement to live as ordinary a way of life as they can (Carr, 2004). People with learning difficulties whitethorn flummox multiple and complex needs, nevertheless down the stairs the 1998 Human Rights Act, they ar authorise to be tempered with dignity and local authorities have a duty to abide by the requirements of this Act (Moore, 2002). Nevertheless there argon atomic number 18as where the Act is sometimes ignored and this is most app argonnt when it comes to the sexual health of people with learning disabilities.Learning Disabilities and Sexual HealthThere has been actu altogethery miniscule research into the lives of people with learning disabilities. The first of its kind was a government survey of 2,898 people which was carried out among June 2003 and October 2004. The report dealt with people with learning disabilities (to what extent they were learning disabled is not always defined) between the ages of 16 and 91. The report found the pursual45% of the people interviewed were under the age of 306% were from minority ethnic communities.92% of all people with learning difficulties who took part in th e study were single and 7% of these had children solely save half that number boldnessed after their children themselves.7% all lived alone or with a partner.There is an make up greater famine of information when it comes to the sexual health of people with learning difficulties. In situation media reports signal that many people with learning difficulties be actively disapprove from engaging in what most people regard as a healthy sex life. There have even been instances where family members have tried and true to have girls with learning disabilities sterilised so that they could not bear children. A (2006) report from the University of Ulster Out of the Shadows, found that the sexual health of people with learning disabilities was all too a great deal ignored. This is because family members and professionals do not deprivation to intromit that this user group has such needs. The report found thatPeople with learning disabilities want to have relationships and expre ss forethoughts of being lonely. besides the feel over-protected by professionals and family contendrs. Consequently there ar few opportunities to develop relationships and meet new people.Some family cautiousnessrs want their child to have the same rights as e realone else. But they feel embarrassed to talk approximately sex with their children and are come to for their practicedty. Feeling unsupported and isolated stops them from raising these issues in the home.Professionals and reckon line staff are aware that the issues around sex and sexuality are not being addressed. However they are inhibited by being under resourced, under trained, and at times restricted by a lack of clear guidelines and policies to support them (http//news.ulster.ac.uk/releases/2006/2892.html).Clearly insufficient assist is being paid to what this group of service users real(a)ly want. People are embarrassed by the fact that people with learning difficulties may have the same hopes, business organizations, and aspirations as everyone else. Clearly there is a need for much research and for education so that a greater understanding of people with learning disabilities and their needs is actually met.Further information on people with learning disabilities and their needs can be found at the following websiteshttp//www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/ihr/index.htm website concerned with the comprehension of adults and young people with learning disabilities in all eye sockets of life.http//www.inspiredservices.org.uk/ website about community living, when it may be necessary and how it is meant to empower people.http//www.ndt.org.uk/ website that campaigns for inclusion of people with learning disabilities at all levels of ordinary life http//www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/ persuasions/Othersurveys/Generalsurveys/DH_4081207.Government surveyElder paceThe agency called years Concern is concerned that the rights of fourth-year people often get overlooked. This is par ticularly the good example where the person is either unable or un provideing to speak for themselves. Thus Age Concern maintains that sr. people need advocates (a disinterested third party) to ready their case when the rights of an sr. person are being ignored or overlooked. Since the existenceation of the topic Service Framework for Older People in 2000 there has been a directive for more than advocacy when it comes to addressing the needs of senior people and this move that has been welcomed by Age Concern.Advocacy is about defend the rights of people as human beings and making sure that their wishes are interpreted into account when decisions are being made that affect what may determine to them. Advocacy therefore, is meant to empower those people who may have the least power in society. There are those who maintain that there should be medical specialist advocacy with regard to the problems of age. Service user participation involves rights and responsibilities on b ehalf of some(prenominal) the service user and a service provider. When it comes to older people who may be confused about what is happening, or who refuse to conk involved in the process then a definition of rights and responsibilities is problematic because without pertain cooperation it is difficult to find a way of ensuring that these are fulfilled.At the very least it has to be acknowledged that everyone has the right to be protected from revilement and to be treated with respect. The aim of good advocacy is to ensure that older people are aware that the local effectiveness has a duty of care with regard to their needs. Advocates also try to ensure that older people have an understanding of what to ask for and what to expect when it comes to support and services. When this is possible it enables older people to exercise their rights as citizens, however, some old people may have no idea what is going on and may be confused by the whole process. In cases like this an advoc ate would look at the older persons circumstances and needs, as well as listening to the carers input, and would then put forward a case for their care and ask for an assessment. This is not, however, a guarantee that the person volition receive residential care, however much a family might want it.A social worker would listen to what the family and perhaps the advocate had to regularise and would then ask what provisions were currently in place, whether these were provided by social services or by the family. Once they had assessed the situation the information would be given to a care manager who would decide what could be offered (Moore, 2002). In some cases this would be residential care.As people grow older they can develop fears that they did not have before. Many older people, for example, are afraid to leave their homes for fear of being attacked, and numbers of them are also afraid of being attacked in their own home. However, figures from the British Crime Survey 2001, t end to suggest that the likelihood of being a victim of aversion decreases with age. contempt this, many elderly people live in fear of being burgled or attacked in their homes by a stranger. Yet the figures support the idea that this fear is largely unfounded the burglary figures for 2001 yield the following informationIn 1000 households of people aged between 16 and 24 17.6% had been burgledIn 1000 households with residents of 75 and over only 2% were burgledDespite these figures many elderly people are haunted by the fear that they are not safe on the streets and may not be safe in their own home. At the same time some media reports tend to suggest that older people are safer in their own homes than they might be if they went into residential care. Older people may not always be willing to go into residential care but an assessment may be asked for by other family members or by carers who are feeling the strain of looking after a demanding elderly relative. Some older people, h owever, may have become so excite in their own homes that they want to go into residential care.Care and AbuseDespite the fact that some elderly people feel that they will be safer in residential accommodation there are factors which suggest this feeling may be misplaced. The marketisation of care, and the growth of private care homes style that there is some evidence which supports the view that the elderly may be more at assay of abuse of their rights and criminal assault in residential settings than in their own home (Ward et al, 1986). The 1990 NHS and Community Care Act, and the presentation of market forces into the care sector has meant that many former council run residences are now privately owned and run for a profit. This is the case even if the person does go into a council run home, they or their family members will be expected to desexualise some contribution to the cost (Kerr et al, 2005).Even if people are in council run homes then they or their families are expe cted to mark at least some contribution to the cost of their care. The shift to a mixed economy of care means that some carers have little or no personal care about the job they are doing and this can lead to older people being at venture of swing and abuse. There have been plenty of media reports of neglect and abuse in residential care where older peoples human rights go unacknowledged and mismanagement and a lack of graceful supervision can lead to neglect and abuse (Smart, 1997).At a time when they should be receiving more care and attention some older people are being abused by the very people who are meant to be looking after them. It would seem that marketisation has led to a lack of proper control over what goes on in some residential homes and there needs to be some mechanism whereby such places are inspected on a regular basis.Useful resourceshttp//www.elderabuse.org.uk/Media%20and%20Resources/Useful%20downloads/AEA/AP%20Monitoring.pdfhttp//www.elderabuse.org.uk/http// www.aoa.gov/eldfam/Elder_Rights/Elder_Abuse/Elder_Abuse.asp unprotected AdultsThere are general guidelines related to social work practice and this is especially the case when it comes to the protection of the weak and insecure. All local authorities have a duty to be aware of the number of people in their area who might be considered unprotected adults. The legislative framework that governs the actions of a social worker works with compromising adults is based on the following1948 theme Assistance Act Part 3local anesthetic Authority favorable Services Act 1970The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 content Health and Community Care Act 1990Depending on the age of the vulnerable adult they are dealing with then the social worker will also have to bear in mindSection 45 of the Health Service and Public Health Act 1968Section 117 of the mental Health Act of 1983General understanding of the 1998 Human Rights ActThe National Services Framework for Older PeopleSocial wo rkers should also be conversant with the terms of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act before they make any assessment of a vulnerable adult. A lot of the problems that vulnerable adults experience, particularly if they have mental health problems, are due to the fact that many professionals (particularly medical professionals) still work with the medical model of disability. This model holds that a persons problems and vulnerabilities are rooted in their pathology i.e. they are part of that persons make up. The problem with this model is that there is a tendency to hold the person responsible for whatever their problems may be (Oliver, 1996). A more favorable model for the service user is the social model. This model looks at factors that are external to the service user such as environmental factors and any other social factors that may give rise to ill health or vulnerability.Who Are under attack(predicate) Adults? penetrable adults might be those people who need care because for one reason or another they cannot look after themselves. This might take the followingOlder peoplePeople with mental health difficultiesPeople with physical disabilitiesPeople with learning disabilitiesSubstance MisusersHomeless PeopleIn an abusive relationshipAccording to media and Government reports, older people are often subject to abuse by the people who are meant to be caring for them. The same thing happens to people with the sort of physical disabilities that prevent them caring for themselves, people with mental health difficulties and people with learning disabilities. In some cases women are more vulnerable and more at risk than men as in some cases they face the risk of sexual assault by carers, particularly if they are not family members. Government concerns over the abuse of vulnerable adults led to the setting up of the POVA the Protection of Vulnerable Adults Scheme in England and Wales. The scheme is implemented with regard to care homes for vulnerable adults, checking the backgrounds of people who work with vulnerable adults, either in a care home or in the persons own home. The problem is that until a crime is committed there is no actual jurisprudence that deals with the protection of vulnerable adults. Some local authorities have produced guidelines for multi-agency working in case of the abuse of vulnerable adults.Harm and Abuse of Vulnerable AdultsVulnerable adults can be abused or harmed in a number of ways, some of which are criminal. Non-criminal abuse might include not paying sufficient attention to their needs, denying them their human rights by not treating them as a person of equal human worth. Abuse can also occur by default when a carer neglects to take proper care of someone who is vulnerable by leaving them in an unclean separate or leaving a confused person to wander without supervision. The more criminal aspects of the abuse of vulnerable adults can include stealing from them, misappropriating notes from their accoun ts and physical or sexual assault. Sometimes it is as a answer of harm that a vulnerable adult comes to the attention of social services and it is then the social workers job to assess the needs of that person.When a social worker makes an assessment of need, even if the person in need is recognized as a vulnerable adult, they can only provide services if certain criteria are satisfied. Those people who have a score lower than 4,5 or 6 may only be entitled to information and advice (Moore, 2002). This means that a lot of vulnerable adults are left out in the cold and it is sometimes the case that they become involved with mental health services by being segment under the 1983 moral Health Act. Here an ASW or Approved Social Worker can recommend to a mental health squad that a person be sectioned or forcibly detained for a period of 28 days if they are regarded as being at risk or posing a risk to others. Vulnerable adults are another group who may at sometime need the services o f an advocate to put forward their concerns. It is also the case that unless and until there is some legislation in place for the protection of vulnerable adults this abuse and neglect will continue.Useful resourcesDisability Discrimination Act 1995 http//www.drc-gb.org/thelaw/thedda.asphttp//www.after16.org.uk/pages/law5.htmlhttp//www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4085855Moore, S. 2002 third Edition Social Welfare Alive Cheltenham, Nelson Thornes psychical HealthLocal authorities now have a duty to act in ways that are conversant with the 1998 Human Rights Act and this means that social workers have a duty to help people with mental health difficulties to deal with any problems they encounter. Some research tends to suggest that over the in the end fifteen years those who use mental health services have been treated in a prejudicial way. This is largely a resultant role of the fact Government discourse is phrased in such a wa y that this group is seen mostly in terms of the risks they may pose to the rest of society.Some social workers have a lot of power when it comes to people who are assessed as having mental health problems. In Britain we have what are known as Approved Social Workers, these social workers are often involved in sectioning a person that is to say a person can be detained for twenty eight days without their consent for assessment of their mental capabilities. This can be problematic because if a service user is being aggressive it is not always easy to tell whether this is safe in response to whatever is going on at that implication or whether the person actually does have a mental health problem or a psychosis.Hannigan and Cutliffe (2002) argue that the medical model of health is the most prevalent in the mental health sector. Under the terms of the 1983 affable Health Act this often results in medical treatments that may involve, for example, the use of drugs or electro-convulsiv e therapy without the persons consent. What is most worrying about this is that it can be used as a threat against vulnerable adults who may not need this kind of treatment but who may be irritating the professionals with whom they come into contact. This is especially the case if the adult concerned has a tendency to be a bit aggressive. Professionals may often assume that this person is displaying psychosis when they are simply displaying an exaggerated form of annoying at what is going on. Current legal definitions of what constitutes a mental derangement (and the guidelines with which many professionals work) are not necessarily the same as psychiatric definitions of what constitutes mental illness. With recent changes to the Mental Health Act this situation becomes even more worrying because it widens the net to include other definitions of mental illness, definitions which could scantily as well be a result of social bad luck as something inherently wrong with a person.Som e research tends to suggest that the mental health system is racist and that black and white youths who may behave in a similar manner are treated differently and black youths are more likely to be assessed as having a mental health problem.The disproportionate use of compulsory sections of the Mental Health Act 1983 for black people, and the links between mental health and the criminal justice system, suggest that the staple fiber rights of many black service users are under threat. A holistic model would emphasise basic human rights and require great caution in the use of statutory powers in mental health services. Black service users rights would be safeguarded done anti-discriminatory procedures, accessible appeals and complaints systems, and accurate monitoring. Safeguards include quality assurance systems based on service users views. These should incorporate indicators of service outcomes based on improvements to black service users quality of life (Ferns, P. 2000 no pagina tion)Increased use of sectioning under the Mental Health Act could be regarded as a form of coerce in mental health just another way of dictum you behave the way I say you will behave or this is what will happen to you. The police also have greater powers under the 1983 Act. Section 136 gives them the right to detain people in a safe place for 72 hours if they are considered to be a risk to themselves or others, even if they havent been aggressive or done anything else that would blurb being detained. This is a frightening state of affairs because it means that anyone who upsets authority in some way could be at risk of losing their independence without charge and without trial.The mental health charity Mind say that actual psychosis is far less prevalent in Britain than some figures would have us believe and that the 1983 Act is in danger of being used as a means of social control rather than the protection of the public and of vulnerable adults.Clearly there are many issues a round Mental Health that are extremely worrying. If you are homeless you are automatically seen as having mental health problems and some literature also refers to women who have experienced domestic violence in these terms. Mental health issues and social blackmail it would seem are very closely related.Useful resourceshttp//www.communitycare.co.uk/articles/article.asp?liarticleid=7951 lavish ref. in bibliographyhttp//www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentrehttp//www.lho.org.uk/HIL/Disease_Groups/MentalHealth_Inequalities.htm London Healthhttp//www.mind.org.uk/Information/Factsheets/Statistics/Statistics+3.htmhttp//www.mind.org.uk/Information/Factsheets/Statistics/Statistics+3.htmhttp//www.nacro.org.uk/about/ young person justice are we getting it right.pdf