Health inequalities and people with learning disabilities in the UK

Research undertaken in many of the world’s high-income countries has reported that people with learning disabilities have poorer health than their non-disabled peers (Sutherland et al, 2002; Ouellette-Kuntz, 2005; Prasher & Janicki, 2003; Emerson et al, 2009; NHS Health Scotland, 2004; Nocon, 2006; Graham, 2005; Krahn et al, 2006; Elliott et al, 2003; US Department of Health & Human Services, 2002; Van Schrojenstein Lantman-de Valk & Walsh, 2008; Turner & Moss, 1966; Van Schrojenstein Lantman-de Valk, 2005; Kerr, 2004; O’Hara et al, 2010). It is clear that the poorer health of people with learning disabilities is, to an important extent, both avoidable and unjust (Ouellette-Kuntz, 2005; Emerson et al, 2009; Nocon, 2006; Graham, 2005; Krahn et al, 2006; O’Hara et al, 2010). As such, these differences in health status represent a health inequality (The Marmot Review, 2010).