We deserve better: Ethnic minorities with a learning disability and access to healthcare
UCLan academics worked with Manchester Metropolitan University, Learning Disability England and the Race Equality Foundation. They wrote a report about problems with health care for people with a learning disability from ethnic minority backgrounds. The report was published in July 2023 by the NHS Race and Health Observatory.
People from minority ethnic backgrounds who also have a learning disability can experience discrimination based on both of these factors. We call this a ‘double discrimination’.
We found that people with a learning disability from ethnic minority backgrounds have more problems getting the care they need, poor experiences of healthcare and poor health outcomes compared to people who are ‘white’. For example, we found that people from an ethnic minority background with a learning disability have an average age at death of 34, compared to 62 for ‘white’ people with a learning disability.
Project title: Ethnicity and difference in health and care
Why is this important?
People with a learning disability who are from a minority ethnic background have more problems with their health and it is harder for them to use health care services.
We want to know why this is happening and how to make care better for people.
