Health and wellbeing support for people with learning
disabilities in South Tyneside

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The Your Voice Counts Health and Wellbeing Facilitator team provides a specialist
service to help people with learning disabilities take positive steps to manage their
physical and mental health and to engage with the healthcare services that are
available to them.

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People with learning disabilities often experience poorer health outcomes and lower
life expectancy than the rest of the population– our service is here to tackle this
inequality by providing support designed to meet the specific needs of people who
have a learning disability. We can also support people who have a learning disability
and are also autistic.

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What do we do?

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The team can provide 121 support to help people look after their health. This can include:
 

• practical support to book and attend appointments

• helping people to understand letters they have received

• informing people about the reasonable adjustments they can ask for

• supporting people to get their yearly health checks and their flu or Covid vaccinations

• providing information and reassurance to help people understand a diagnosis or who are anxious about an appointment or treatment.

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The team also provides accessible information around key health messages tailored to the needs of people with learning disabilities (for example smoking cessation and sexual health awareness). We can also provide group and 121 sessions to help people with learning disabilities learn more about managing long term health conditions such as diabetes.

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The team works in partnership with other health and social care providers in South Tyneside and links people to other services as needed.

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Who do we work with?

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We are here to help people who live in South Tyneside who:
 

• are over 17 and have a learning disability, or have a learning disability and are also autistic; or

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• care for someone who has a learning disability, or who has a learning disability and is also autistic.

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How can we work with you?

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Health services

If you are a healthcare professional working with someone who has a learning disability who you think may benefit from our support, please get in touch with us to make a referral.

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Carers and families

If you care for someone who has a learning disability, please get in touch to discuss how we can help you.

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Our events

We run training and information sessions for people with learning disabilities throughout the year – stay up to date with events on our website or by following us on social media.

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Contact us 

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Get in touch on 0191 478 6472 or yvc.uk@nhs.net.