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Social Focus on Disability 2004

Adults with learning disabilities

Information on adults with learning disabilities was published by the Scottish Executive for the first time in February 2004 as a result of The Same as You? review of services for people with learning disabilities. All figures relate to the week ending 18 May 2003 and are provisional, and as such, may be subject to change. The final figures will be published in Scottish Community Care Statistics 2003.

There are an estimated 18,066 adults with learning disabilities who are known to local authorities throughout Scotland. Table 6.19 shows that of those estimated to have learning disabilities, 55 per cent are male and 45 per cent are female.

The Statistics Release ¹⁵on adults with learning disabilities contains detailed information on those with learning disabilities for each local authority area. The main topics covered include:

• Adults known to Local Authorities
• Local Area Coordination
• Personal Life Plans
• Independent Advocacy Service
• Employment Opportunities
• Further Education
• Training
• Community Short Breaks
• Independent Living
• Alternatives to Traditional Day Services

Registered blind and partially sighted persons

In 2003, it was estimated that 38,000 people were registered as blind or partially sighted. However, it is not compulsory to register with local authorities therefore this figure may underestimate the actual number of blind and partially sighted persons living in Scotland. Research studies suggest that between a quarter and a third of visually impaired people ¹⁶ are registered with their local authority. The data presented in this section is sourced from the Statistics Release: Registered Blind and Partially Sighted Persons, Scotland 2003. ¹⁷ The figures relate to 31 March 2003 and are provisional, and as such, may be subject to change. The final figures will be published in Scottish Community Care Statistics 2003.

The majority (79 per cent) of persons registered as blind or partially sighted are aged 65 or over.

Source: Scottish Household Survey

Blind persons

Of those persons registered as visually impaired, 62 per cent (23,557) are blind.

Table 6.20 shows that over three-quarters (79 per cent) of those who are registered blind are aged 65 or over. There are also differences across the sexes, with more women registered blind (63 per cent) than men (37 per cent). Nearly half of all registered blind people are women aged 75 and over. This is also reflected in the new registrations where just under half of all new registered cases are women aged 75 and over.

Around one-fifth (21 per cent) of all registered blind persons have additional disabilities. Table 6.21 shows that 36 per cent of blind persons are deaf and 32 per cent have a physical disability. Over 70 per cent of those with an additional disability are aged 65 or over.

Partially sighted persons

It is estimated that there are 14,443 partially sighted persons living in Scotland, as at the end of March 2003.

The data on registered partially sighted persons is very similar to that of registered blind persons. Seventy-eight per cent of those who are registered as partially sighted are aged 65 years and over. There are also more women (65 per cent) than men (35 per cent) who are registered as partially sighted and women aged 75 or over continue to make up around a half of all registered partially sighted persons. This is also mirrored in the new registrations where 46 per cent of the new registered cases are women aged 75 or over.

There are an estimated 2,815 registered partially sighted persons with additional disabilities (Table 6.23). Forty-one per cent have physical disabilities and 33 per cent are deaf. Over three-quarters of those with additional disabilities are aged 65 or over.

Persons who are deaf or hard of hearing

There are estimated to be about 758,000 deaf and hard of hearing adults in Scotland. Around 57,000 (8 per cent) of these adults are severely or profoundly deaf. The definitions of deafness can be found in Appendix 1.

Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of adults who are deaf or hard of hearing are over 60 years of age.

The figures in Table 6.24 are researched by the Medical Research Council (MRC) Institute of Hearing Research, and are based on the findings from the 1995 National Study of Hearing (as published in Hearing in Adults, Adrian Davis). The 1995 data have been updated to reflect the changing population profile; the data in Table 6.24 relates to 2000. ¹⁸

Think Dual Sensory published in 1997 by the Department of Health in England estimated that some 2,000 people in Scotland could have some degree of deafblindness. The latest figures published in Statistics Release: Registered Blind and Partially Sighted Persons, Scotland 2003 show that there are 1,764 people registered as deafblind in Scotland.

Regular help and care

Information on people requiring regular help and care is available from the SHS. ¹⁹ Table 6.25 shows that there are significant differences between the disabled and non-disabled population in terms of their need for care.

Forty-four per cent of disabled adults and 23 per cent of adults with a long-term illness require regular help and care compared with only 1 per cent of adults without a disability or long-term illness. A breakdown by sex and age is provided in Table 6.26 for those adults with a disability and those with a long-term illness.

No data is presented for adults without a disability or long-term illness as only a very small number answered that they required regular help and care. Of those adults without a disability/long-term illness responding that they need regular care, 85 per cent are aged 65 or over. Thus, the likely reason for needing help and care will be due to old age.

Level of care received

Of those adults requiring regular help and care, the majority receive care from outwith the home (Chart 6.4). Sixty-four per cent of adults with a disability and 64 per cent of adults with a long-term illness receive regular help and care from outwith the home.

Source: Scottish Household Survey

There are only a small proportion of adults who did not receive any care, despite identifying themselves as needing care (3 per cent of adults with a disability and 6 per cent of adults with a long-term illness).

Hours of care received per week

The SHS also collects information on the number of hours of care received each week. As shown in Chart 6.5, there are significant differences in the amount of care received each week depending on whether the care is received from outwith the home (non-household members) or within the home (household members).

Source: Scottish Household Survey

When care is received from outwith the home, the majority of adults receive less than 20 hours of care each week. Over two-thirds of all adults receive less than 20 hours of care per week; 67 per cent of disabled adults and 71 per cent of adults with a long-term illness receive less than 20 hours of care each week.

In contrast, when care is received from within the home, a much greater proportion of adults receive continuous care. Over half (54 per cent) of disabled adults receive care continuously from household members. The proportion of adults with a long-term illness receiving continuous care within the home is 53 per cent.

Home help

The SHS asks respondents whether they have a home help at the moment. By home help, they are referring to someone who regularly comes in to help with certain tasks like cleaning, cooking or shopping which they would normally find difficult to manage on their own. The results are shown in Table 6.27.

Disabled adults are more likely to have a home help (19 per cent), than those adults with just a long-term illness (11 per cent). Differences also exist by sex, with more women having a home help than men. The likelihood of having a home help also increases with age; adults aged 75 and over are significantly more likely to have a home help than those in younger age groups. Table 6.28 and 6.29 show the proportions having a home help by sex and age.

Day care

Information on day care services intended primarily for physically disabled people is published in Scottish Community Care Statistics 2002. Table 6.30 shows the number of day centres, the number of places and the number of attendees from 1980 to 2002.

Due to a change in methodology in 1998, care should be taken when comparing the results before and after 1998 as the figures may not be directly comparable. Further information on this can be found in Appendix 1.

In 2001, a new survey of day care services took place. The figures for 'number attending' in 2001 are not comparable with previous years. In 2001, information was collected on numbers attending day centres during the census week. In previous years, the numbers attending related to all persons who regularly attended regardless of whether they were there during census week.

Table 6.30 shows that the number of day centres for physically disabled people have increased by 15.4 per cent since 1998. In contrast, the number of places has decreased by 4 per cent. In 2002, there was an average of 39 places and 46 attendees per centre.

Residential care homes

The publication Scottish Community Care Statistics 2002 also provides information on the number of residential care homes which are primarily intended for physically disabled people. The results are shown in Table 6.31.

As mentioned before, a change in methodology occurred in 1998 and as such, care should be taken when comparing data before and after 1998. The figures may not be directly comparable.

The majority (over 95 per cent) of beds and residents are in the voluntary sector. Over time there has been an increase in the number of beds and residents. However, these fell in 2001 to 699 and 585 respectively and also in 2002 to 655 and 555 respectively.

In 2002, homes were running at an 85 per cent occupancy level.

Children looked after by local authorities

Local authorities have responsibilities under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to provide support to vulnerable young people. These young people are known as 'looked after children'. Previously they were known as 'children in care or under supervision'. Some children will be looked after for only a short period of time, whereas others may be looked after for several short periods of time, and some for substantial periods of time. The provision of accommodation for children looked after, generally includes placing them with another family or in a specialist residential establishment. Looked after children may also remain in their own home. In fact, over 40 per cent of looked after children are accommodated at home with their parents, and 30 per cent are placed with foster carers. Fourteen per cent are placed in residential accommodation, and the remainder are in other community placements.

Almost 11,400 children were looked after by local authorities at 31 March 2003. This represents 1 per cent of all children under 18.

Information on children looked after with a disability is provided in Table 6.32.

Of all children looked after by local authorities, 14 per cent of these children have a disability. A further 3 per cent of those looked after are affected by the disability of others, e.g. family or carer.

Half of the children looked after with a disability have social, emotional or behavioural difficulties.

Of the total children looked after with a disability, 1 per cent have a medically diagnosed mental health problem. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently carried out a survey on The mental health of young people looked after by local authorities in Scotland in 2002/2003. The findings from this report estimated that 45 per cent of children looked after by local authorities had a mental health problem. The assessment of mental health problems was based on ICD-10 (International Classifications of Diseases, tenth revision) and DSM-lV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth revision) criteria. Thus mental disorder was defined to imply a clinically recognisable set of symptoms or behaviour associated in most cases with considerable distress and substantial interference with personal functions. However, as acknowledged by the authors of the ONS report, estimates of the prevalence of childhood mental disorder depend on the choice of concepts as well as how they are operationalised and these, in turn, depend on the particular purposes and aims of the study. Consequently, the researchers acknowledged that estimates from the survey may not necessarily be comparable with those obtained from other studies. Only 6 per cent of children in the ONS survey were taking medication, and there is probably more overlap between this group of children, and those recorded as having mental health problems or social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, in the SE statistical publication on children looked after.

Children in residential accommodation

The main purpose of residential accommodation for children is to provide good quality care, support and opportunities for development in a safe environment. It may also provide education or specialist care. Residential accommodation is an important element in children's services. For some children looked after away from home, it will be the most appropriate option for meeting their particular needs.

There are various types of residential accommodation to which children and young persons may be admitted. The main types of establishments are children's homes, residential schools, hostels and homes for children with disabilities. There are also a few establishments which provide secure accommodation.

Children may be in a residential establishment under a voluntary care arrangement, under a supervision requirement made by a children's hearing, where a parental responsibilities order had been obtained by the local authority or as a requirement made by a Court.

At the end of March 2003, there were 1,740 children in residential accommodation. Just under a quarter (23 per cent) of these children had a disability. Table 6.33 shows the number of children in residential accommodation by the type of disability they hold.

Of all children with a disability living in residential accommodation, the majority have a learning disability.

References

A Partnership for A Better Scotland: Partnership Agreement
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/government/pfbs-00.asp

Children's Social Work Statistics, 2002-2003
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00287-00.asp

Fair For All, Improving the Health of Ethnic Minority Groups and the Wider Community in Scotland
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/society/ffar-00.asp

Hearing in Adults, Adrian Davis, Whurr. 1995

ISD Scotland. Various mental health statistics: http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pParentID=1775&pContentID=962&p-applic=CCC&p-service=Content.show&

National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-Being, Action Plan 2003-2006
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/health/npmh-00.asp

Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), Factsheet 'Facts and figures on deafness and tinnitus',
http://www.rnid.org.uk/html/factsheets/general-statistics-on-deafness.htm

Scottish children's statistics gateway
www.scotland.gov.uk/statistics/children

Scottish Community Care Statistics 2002
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00309-00.asp

Scottish Household Survey
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/SR/CRU-SocInc/00016002/SHShome.aspx

Statistics Release: Adults with learning disabilities, Implementation of 'The Same as You?', Scotland 2003
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00326-00.asp

Statistics Release: Registered Blind and Partially Sighted Persons, Scotland 2003
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00292-00.asp

The mental health of young people looked after by local authorities in Scotland
http://www.nationalstatistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme-health/Mentalhealth-Scotland-summary.pdf

The Same as You? A review of services for people with learning disabilities
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/ldsr/docs/tsay-00.asp

Think Dual Sensory, Good Practice Guidelines for Older People with Dual Sensory Loss
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT-ID=4008242&chk=PrUyNZ

Contacts

Telephone contact points for information relating to Chapter 6, Health and Care:

Scottish Executive

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