Do health consultations for people with learning disabilities meet expectations? A narrative literature review

Accessible SummaryPeople with learning disabilities have unmet health needs. Annual health checks were brought in to improve health care, but do they work? The research shows checks lead to more tests for illness and illness being identified. A lot of people still do not see their doctor, and not all doctors do health checks. Future research needs to understand how people with disabilities feel about seeing their doctor or nurse, and how doctors and nurses feel towards them.Abstract Aim To explore the benefits and disadvantages of annual health checks for people with learning disabilities, including: What are the rationales and outcome measures for health checks? How well do health checks meet the needs of people with learning disabilities? What areas does research in this topic need to focus on in the future?Background Health consultations are an interpersonal activity that influence health outcomes and attitudes towards self and health professionals for people with learning disabilities. Annual health checks have been introduced to improve health inequalities for people with learning disabilities. Method A narrative literature review of health care for people with learning disabilities was undertaken to evaluate health care for this population, and specifically the outcomes from annual health checks. Findings While annual health checks have made some improvements in terms of health outcomes, attendance for appointments is still low, provision is variable and experiences of health checks for people with learning disabilities are under‐researched. Conclusions Service user‐led research into their health experiences is needed. Research into the attitudes and experiences of health professionals in relation to people with learning disabilities is needed. Healthcare inequalities are only being partially addressed—improvement is needed in terms of service user experience and engagement.