Community insights from people with disabilities

In December 2019, Healthwatch Tower Hamlets asked 240 people what could make their neighbourhood a better place for them. 12 of those people lived with a disability.

Between July and September 2020, Healthwatch Tower Hamlets carried out in-depth interviews with people who received domiciliary care from professional carers. They talked about their experiences with health and social care services, as well as about the wider impact that living with a disability and/or their care needs had on their well-being. 13 people shared their experiences.

Key Findings:

• Residents with disabilities were less likely to feel supported to make healthy choices and feel safe in their local area than residents not living with disability.
• Residents with disabilities reported lower levels of happiness and wellbeing than residents not living with disability.
• Supporting patients with disabilities in accessing the right medical treatment can be a trial and error process and they don't always feel they are receiving the right treatment.
• Innovations in access to GP services, which may make them easier and more efficient to use for the general population, can be challenging for residents living with disabilities.  This is particularly true for those with learning/ sensory/ processing disabilities that impact reading comprehension (such as dyslexia) and those who face further barriers such as language barriers.
• Some of the respondents to in-depth interview experienced poor mental health. They felt able to talk about their mental health with the professionals treating them, but felt that the scope of the help they can realistically receive was limited.

A recommendation to continue this research and reach out to more people living with disability was made in this report.