Last week TRAC members Ffion, Amy, Natalie, Gethin, and James from Caerphilly People First participated in an important panel discussion with year two learning disability nursing students at the University of South Wales. The session, led by Professor Dr. Steve Walden, provided a platform for TRAC members to share their personal experiences with healthcare services, offering the students a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by individuals with learning disabilities.

Each TRAC member shared their own story, detailing both positive and negative experiences within the healthcare system. These real-life examples gave the nursing students a unique opportunity to hear directly from those who have navigated the system, highlighting areas where care was effective and where it fell short.

Both the TRAC members and the students acknowledged that while progress has been made, there is still significant room for improvement in how healthcare services are delivered to people with learning disabilities.

Overall, the discussion was both productive and enlightening. Ffion, Amy, Natalie, Gethin, and James did an excellent job of sharing their experiences and helping the students understand the real-world impact of their work. The session was a powerful reminder of the importance of listening to and learning from those with lived experience in order to drive meaningful change in healthcare.

We recently received a visit from Clare and Tracy from the primary care learning disability nursing liaison team. They stopped by to talk about annual health checks and gave us some information about who’s eligible to receive one, and how we can book.

We look forward to seeing you both again on July 30th and can wait to have a look at and try out some of the equipment they use at the Doctors.

An annual health check for adults with learning disabilities is a comprehensive assessment designed to identify and address health issues that may be overlooked or unmanaged in this population. The aim is to improve health outcomes and quality of life. Here are the key components:

1. Physical Health Assessment
2. Medical History Review
3. Mental Health Evaluation
4. Lifestyle and Preventive Health
5. Social and Environmental Factors
6. Communication Needs
7. Care Planning

These checks are typically conducted by a general practitioner (GP) or a nurse, often in collaboration with other healthcare professionals familiar with the needs of people with learning disabilities. The goal is to provide holistic care that addresses both physical and mental health needs, ensuring that individuals with learning disabilities receive appropriate and timely healthcare.

On Tuesday, as part of our project with Multiply Skills for Life, the group went on a walk in the Sirhowy Valley. 13 of us from Caerphilly People First were driven to the location of our walk, by Brian Hayter, the person who led the walk.

Brian handed out maps of the route, with some locations on the route marked with a number. There were 11 numbers in all, and each one represented a letter. The numbers were located on things like benches, fences, and wooden posts.

At the end of the route, once the group had matched the numbers to the letters, the word written on their sheets was ACHIEVEMENT. Congratulations to everyone who took part, and completed the walk.

This report was written by Caerphilly People First member Morgan Jones:

This week, as part of our work with the Multiply ‘Skills for Life’ project, Bryan Hayter from Caerphilly Adventures visited us to talk to the group about our health, ways to stay healthy, and where the group will be walking next Tuesday. He handed us an orienteering map, showing the Sirhowy Valley, where we will be doing our walk.

He was followed by Rebecca from Multiply talking to us about healthy foods. She showed us a picture of the ‘Eatwell’ plate and the types of foods we should eat and types of foods we should avoid in order to keep our weight down and stay healthy. The group then measured our height and got on the scales to see how much we weigh.

This report was written by Caerphilly People First member Morgan Jones:

Whilst I was in Caerphilly People First yesterday, some people from an organisation called ‘Multiply’ came to talk to me and my CPF buddies about their Skills for Life project and how to calculate our calorie intake and log our daily steps.

To do this we put a watch on our wrist that monitors our steps, and how many calories we’ve burnt whilst walking. When we got back to the office we all recorded how many steps we did on our walk, and the group managed 6,500 steps each.