Caring for an older family member with learning disabilities

Do you care for an adult or a sibling with learning disabilities who is middle aged or older? Is the advice and support you need hard to come by? Do you have concerns and questions about the future care of your family member?Whether you are a parent or sibling caring for a relative with a learning disability, this free course, Caring for an older family member with learning disabilities, is designed to help you navigate the system as they grow older. It has been developed from a cutting-edge research project that explored how to improve the care and support for older people with learning disabilities and their families.The course has been developed from the findings of Growing Older – Planning Ahead, an independent research project funded by the National Institute for Health Research(NIHR) under its Health Services and Delivery Research Programme (NIHR129491).Interested in taking your learning further? You might find it helpful to explore the Open University’s Health and Social Care courses and qualifications.

• Session1Session 1: Introduction
• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 Taking stock of your own situation
• Acknowledgements
• Session2Session 2: The importance of planning
• Introduction
• 1 Introducing Sharon and Becky
• 2 Thinking about Becky’s future care
• 3 Some of the realities of planning future care
• 4 Summary of Session 2
• References
• Acknowledgements
• Session3Session 3: Developing your plans
• Introduction
• 1 What are you aiming for?
• 2 What works when planning?
• 2.1 Think about what matters
• 2.2 Explore your options
• 2.3 Know what your local authority should do to help you
• 3 Summary of Session 3
• Acknowledgements
• Session4Session 4: Useful skills
• Introduction
• 1 Thinking the worst … ?
• 2 Be proactive
• 3 Advocate, advocate!
• 3.1 Being assertive
• 3.2 People and organisations who can advocate for you
• 4 Summary of Session 4
• Acknowledgements
• Session5Session 5: Looking after yourself
• Introduction
• 1 Hearing from those who know
• 2 Summary of Session 5
• References
• Acknowledgements
• Session6Session 6: Pulling it all together
• Introduction
• 1 The best care possible
• 2 Summary of Session 6
• 3 Summary of the course
• Where next?
• Acknowledgements