Easy Read resources – advice for all

For many people, accessing the healthcare system can be a frightening experience – they are confronted by new environments, meet unfamiliar people and don’t know what to expect.

These fears may be compounded when the person coming into hospital already has other needs, such as a mental health condition, dementia, or a learning disability. Such conditions can affect the person’s perceptions or understanding of hospital experiences.

NHS Health Education England (HEE) have produced the ‘Making a Difference toolkit’ that brings together a range of resources to promote understanding about what it’s like to live with a learning disability, allowing healthcare professionals to adjust the care they deliver and helping people with a learning disability accesses the services they need.

The resources are arranged into themes and contain over 40 components. The aim is to support access to health care wherever it is delivered, albeit in the community, at the GP surgery, or in generic hospital services.

• To access the full toolkit visit the website  www.hee.nhs.uk/learning-disabilities-made-clear-toolkit  or  aldhc.keele.ac.uk/wttk/

Links to some other useful easy read resources to share with service users:

• Easyhealth – this website provides ‘accessible’ health information that uses easy words with pictures. There are over 500 leaflets made by many different organisations on their website at www.easyhealth.org.uk/
• People First – has lots of easy-to-read information about staying well and healthy – read more or find leaflets on their website at www.peoplefirstinfo.org.uk/easy-read-information-for-people-with-learning-disabilities
• NHS – easy read resources can be found at www.england.nhs.uk/resources/er
• NHS – easy read newsletters  can be viewed at  www.england.nhs.uk/newsletter
• Patient Info – links to a range of accessible leaflets can be found on their website at patient.info/health/accessible-leaflets