Access for All: Improving services for young people with learning disabilities and mental health needs

About 40% of young people with learning disabilities experience mental health difficulties and they are often unable to get support from appropriate services (Count Us In 2002)

We worked with the staff of different services so that they are better at helping young people with mental health problems

We worked to improve access to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for children and young people with learning disabilities. We did this by running action learning sets for staff in relevant health and social services.

This project was funded by the Department of Health and aimed:

To support local practitioners, service managers and commissioners to address inequalities around access to CAMHS by involving them in action learning sets.

To improve access for children and young people and their families to better mental health services, leading to greater inclusion. This may include introduction of managed care approaches.

To increase the expertise of CAMHS professionals working with children and young people with learning disabilities.

To increase the expertise of professionals from learning disability services and children and families services in working with CAMHS to ensure an inclusive local service.

What is an action learning set?

An action learning set is a group of people who get together regularly to work on real workplace issues. The set supports individual members to identify solutions and reflect on action. Sets are designed to deal with the specific needs of the set members and require agreed action by the end of each meeting. The sets we ran met four times over 12 months.

Action learning has proved to be a powerful vehicle for learning and for development of good practice. People who have taken part in our action learning sets say that the sets build up new relationships across different services that benefit service users and the service generally.

They also say their experiences influence their approach to day to day work with staff and service users. The solution-focused approach of sets is particularly helpful in giving professionals new tools for tackling issues. Action learning sets often choose to continue meeting even when project funding has ended.

Evaluation of the 'Access for All’ Action Learning Sets

Download - [143 KB] Access for All evaulation report 2007

Further information

Christine Burke, Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, Sea Containers House, 20 Upper Ground, London, SE1 9QB. Tel: 020 8551 7331 Email Christine Burke