Have you completed the first module in this series about learning disabilities?

Part one: Learning disabilities in context.

Pharmacy staff have a legal obligation to make sure that people who have disabilities have the same access to healthcare as everyone else. Effective communication is key to engaging people in sharing information and decisions in the consultation. Providing information that is in a suitable format will support your patients with medicines optimisation and wellbeing, and will help you meet the NHS Accessible Information Standard. Applying the appropriate patient-centred approach contributes to a positive patient experience and helps meet principle one of the RPS medicines optimisation guidance: “Aim to understand the patient experience”.

Communication challenges

Considering the challenges to clear communication that you might face when talking to people who have a learning disability is important, as it allows you to plan how to overcome them. The person with a learning disability may:

• Have sensory impairments
• Have poor cognitive skills
• Be stressed due to the environment or illness
• Dislike unfamiliar places
• Have difficulty waiting
• Have had previous bad experiences
• Have a carer who talks for them.

Practice point

• Think about how you might be able to overcome the challenges listed above and come up with some possible solutions for each.