Community team for adults with learning disabilities

Somerset Foundation Trust’s Community team for adults with learning disabilities service is a specialist health service. The service aims to meet the additional specialist health needs of people with learning disabilities (LD) and works in a way that is complementary to the work carried out by mainstream health services.

We provide a range of multi-disciplinary assessments, advice, support and interventions to empower people with LD to manage their own health in the most effective way. Specialist health services contribute to the health, wellbeing and safety of people with LD who are at high risk by maximising the safe management of their health needs.

We have four community teams for adults with learning disabilities across the county, with the following professions represented:

• Community Learning Disability Nursing
• Occupational Therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Community Liaison Team
• Screening Team

We can offer support with:

• your body (physical health)
• daily living skills
• eating, drinking and swallowing
• medication
• behaviour, thoughts and feelings
• memory difficulties
• communication
• comfort, breathing and how you move (postural, respiratory and mobility assessments)
• developing a personalised care and support plan
• supporting access to primary care appointments
• support with screening appointments

To be eligible for support from the community team for adults with learning disabilities team, service users must be over the age of 18, have a learning disability and meet our eligibility criteria:

• this would normally be an IQ of 70 or below
• a significant impairment in at least two areas of living skills
• a disability that occurred before, during or immediately after birth

We accept referrals from service users, carers and professionals. Referrals should be made using the referral form.

We aim to make contact about each referral received within three weeks.