Lead Organisation: Gwynedd Council
As part of the Population Needs Assessment, a group of 14 people with learning disabilities who live in Gwynedd discussed their experiences of services and the support they need to live their lives in the way that they want.
They said that they can get involved in all kinds of community activities including walking, swimming and seeing friends. But there are some barriers. For example, some activities stopped because of Covid and some providers restrict how far they can travel so they can only attend local activities.
Help available includes family, support workers, advocates, community nurses, social workers and colleagues at work. Some individuals said they can do things themselves without help.
Things that work well are getting support when needed, especially to get out of the house and being listened to. People said support helped them to do what they want and to try new things.
Staff work with me, to do the tasks that I couldn’t do, we work as a team.
The things that don’t work so well included communication problems, for example staff changing work shifts without telling them or not picking someone up for a hospital appointment when arranged. A couple of people said that they didn’t feel they could talk about something personal or that anyone is listening to their feelings. Nearly half of the group had experienced support staff playing with their phones while they were being supported. Members of the group also said they weren’t able to try different activities.
It sometimes feels like there is only a set list of activities to do
If the staff are on their mobile phones it feels like it’s OK to send a quick message, but to stop playing games on the phone. Need to be reasonable when using their mobile phones.
Support could be better if people could try new things and were helped to get the jobs that they want.
I like to do things that are not just for people with a learning disability.
Other things that would help are consistent and flexible support with clear communication. There were also a lot of concerns about the pandemic, concerns that Covid will come back, missing out on activities and concerns that things aren’t going back to normal. There is also a need for more staff and more places for people with learning disabilities to live.
