Planning for tomorrow
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Planning for tomorrow

Delia Magrill Coordinator, Older Family carers Initiative at the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities

Dalia Magrill examines the implications of new report, entitled Planning for Tomorrow, which shows that partnership boards are struggling to meet the needs of older families caring for people with learning disabilities

Learning disability services are facing a major demographic crisis. One of the biggest worries for family carers is what will happen when they are no longer able to care for their relative with a learning disability. This is a huge area of unmet need. The Valuing People White Paper states that one third of people with learning disabilities living in the family home are living with a carer aged 70 or over (DoH 2001a). They have often been caring for decades with very little, if any support from statutory services. As a result, many older families are hidden from services and will only become known when there is a crisis, when a family carer dies or becomes too frail to continue.

Learning Disability Practice. 6, 5, 6-7. doi: 10.7748/ldp.6.5.6.s7

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