Learning disability nurses are being encouraged to apply for funding for a project aimed at improving access to urgent and emergency care for people with learning disabilities.
The funding appeal is part of the RCN Foundation’s Inclusive Health – Improving the Lives of People with Learning Disabilities programme, which provides grants to support research into addressing health inequalities for people with learning disabilities.
“There is an urgent need for research in this area.”
Deepa Corea
This year the charity is aiming to fund an individual or organisation to co-design a tool to help people with a learning disability access urgent or emergency care if they become unwell.
The project is based on analysing the current experiences of people using services and using lessons learned to develop proposals to improve access.
There is also a need to explore the impact that learning disability nurses working within these services have on reducing health inequalities.
The RCN Foundation said the lived experiences of people with learning disabilities should be central to the design of the project and any subsequent tools, and their voices should always be heard.
Furthermore, proposals should include perspectives from all four UK nations and should involve consultation with nursing and midwifery staff who care for people with learning disabilities across health and social care services.
Deepa Collier, director of the RCN Foundation, told Nursing Times that while access to urgent and emergency care is “vitally important to us all”, people with learning disabilities often find it harder to access these services when they need them.
She said: “There is limited evidence about the experiences and outcomes of people with learning disabilities receiving care via this route, and no actual information about what measures are being taken for them by emergency services, so research in this area is urgently needed.”
“This fundraising appeal is [registered learning disability nurses]We will work closely with people with learning disabilities to develop practical, evidence-based tools that improve access to urgent and emergency care.”
Funding available is up to £30,000 and projects will run over a 12 month period.
Grant applications close on March 20, 2024 at 5 p.m.