Skip to main content
  • Textbook
  • © 2020

Promoting the Health and Well-Being of People with Learning Disabilities

  • Provides a resource to support the introduction of mandatory training on learning disabilities
  • Combines the views of practitioners and people with learning disabilities and their families
  • Provides narrative examples of core concepts regarding people with learning disabilities and their families

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
  2. Being Happy and Healthy

    • Pauline Heslop, Crispin Hebron, Robina Mallett, Sally Anne Hillman
    Pages 1-15
  3. Communication

    • Sam Bradley, Hannah Crawford, Hilary Nozedar
    Pages 17-31
  4. Decision-Making

    • Sally Wilson, Liam Abraham
    Pages 33-45
  5. Behaviour

    • Dave Williams, Michael Mulhall
    Pages 47-56
  6. Accessing Health Services

    • Mo Gharraph, Jonathon Lenaerts, Gwen Moulster
    Pages 57-74
  7. Providing Holistic Care

    • Daniel Marsden, Susan Cooper
    Pages 75-87
  8. Medication

    • Danielle Adams, Barry Jubraj
    Pages 89-106
  9. Death and Dying

    • Irene Tuffrey-Wijne, Jean Willson
    Pages 107-124
  10. Staying Healthy

    • Jackie Fletcher, Jill Parker, Jordan Smith, Dave Robinson
    Pages 125-138
  11. Some Things to Think About When Looking for Resources

    • Sue Turner, Anna Marriott, Beth Richards
    Pages 139-148
  12. Back Matter

    Pages 149-149

About this book

This textbook presents a practical guide for new and experienced health or social care staff, helping them promote the health and well-being of people with learning disabilities. Given the considerable demand for mandatory training on supporting people with learning disabilities, especially in England, the book provides a valuable resource for all training courses on working with people with learning disabilities.


The chapters are co-written by practitioners and people with learning disabilities and their families, rooting the book in the lived experiences of those concerned. Topics covered include core elements of being happy and healthy, communication, changes in our behaviour when we are unwell, making decisions about our health, accessing health services, how we would want to be treated if we were unwell, the use of psychotropic medication, what a ‘good death’ would be, and how to keep ourselves healthy. In addition, the chapters include narrativeexamples concerning people with learning disabilities and their families, so as to highlight key points and share best-practice examples. The use of personal reflection is used to consider how we can ensure that people with learning disabilities receive care and support that matches what we would expect for ourselves. Core questions at the end of each chapter ask the reader to reflect on how the chapter content relates to their own work and how they will apply what they have learned.


A consistent theme throughout the book is equality of opportunity for people with learning disabilities to achieve good health. There is now substantial evidence that people with learning disabilities have poorer health than the general population, are more likely to have multiple health needs, and can experience difficulties in having their illnesses diagnosed and treated promptly. This book aims to help those supporting people with learning disabilities to achieve more equal outcomes.


Editors and Affiliations

  • Norah Fry Centre for Disability Studies School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Pauline Heslop

  • Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucester, UK

    Crispin Hebron

About the editors

Professor Pauline Heslop (RGN, RSCN, PhD) is a nurse by background and is currently based at the University of Bristol’s Norah Fry Centre for Disability Studies. She is recognised nationally and internationally for her expertise in understanding mortality and causes of early death of people with intellectual (learning) disabilities, and publication of her work has led to her being awarded the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD) Distinguished Achievement Award in 2016. Pauline has been the University of Bristol Programme Lead for the national Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) Programme in England since 2015.


Crispin Hebron (RNMH. Dip.SW. BSc (Hons). MSc.) works as an Independent Consultant Learning Disability Nurse. He has held a range of roles across the public, private and voluntary sector including work with NHS England as a Clinical Lead to reduce health inequalities for people with learning disabilities and NHS Digital to create a Reasonable Adjustment Flag on patients’ electronic records. Crispin has contributed as an investigator to the Confidential Inquiry into premature deaths in people with learning disability published in 2013, run by the Norah Fry Centre for Disability Studies University of Bristol and the 2016 review into using information technology to improve the NHS. Crispin has published various articles and book chapters focusing on equality, health issues and the delivery of effective services for people with learning disabilities.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Promoting the Health and Well-Being of People with Learning Disabilities

  • Editors: Pauline Heslop, Crispin Hebron

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43488-5

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Medicine, Medicine (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-43487-8Published: 11 June 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-43488-5Published: 10 June 2020

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 149

  • Number of Illustrations: 11 b/w illustrations, 6 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Learning Disabilities Nursing, Social Work

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access