Student Programme: How to avoid diagnostic overshadowing in patients with a learning disability
21 May 2019, 15:15 - 16:00
This session will develop an understanding of what diagnostic overshadowing is.
The prevalence of diagnostic overshadowing in today’s healthcare services in relation to patients with learning disabilities will be discussed. The Learning Disability Mortality Review (University of West England, 2018) demonstrated that people with learning disabilities die on average 20 years earlier than the general population. The majority of deaths reviewed were avoidable. It is not acceptable that in the 21st Century in the UK people are dying early just because they have a learning disability.Discussion will take place on how it can be ensured that, as nurses, we strive towards a healthcare service which sees beyond learning disabilities and seeks to identify the presence of health needs that may be overshadowed by how their learning disabilities present and can lead to inaccurate pre-judgement. This session will include staff training tools, appropriate assessment, and well-designed communication tools we can implement to avoid this.
1A, Level 2
ACC Liverpool
Kings Dock
Liverpool Waterfront
Liverpool
L3 4FP
Page last updated - 23/07/2019
