Supporting people to live the life they choose

Learning disability care

Supporting people with learning disabilities to live well with complex and co-occurring needs.

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Who we support

Our nurse-led care homes support adults with learning disabilities alongside complex and co-occurring needs relating to:

Communication and sensory needs

Including limited verbal communication, sensory differences, difficulties expressing needs, and other communication or processing needs.

Behaviour and emotional needs

Including distress, agitation, aggression, resistance to care, and other behaviours that may communicate an unmet need.

Mental health and autism

Including autism alongside anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other complex or enduring mental health needs.

Complex nursing care needs

Including complex medication, continence, enteral feeding, epilepsy, respiratory needs, and other needs requiring nursing oversight.

Physical health and mobility

Including epilepsy, cerebral palsy, diabetes, respiratory conditions, reduced mobility, and other co-occurring physical health needs.

Risk and safety needs

Including reduced risk awareness, vulnerability, forensic backgrounds, and other risks requiring structured support.

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When someone might come to live with us

People come to our learning disability care homes at different stages of their care journey, including:

  • moving from their family home as their needs increase
  • moving from another care setting that can no longer meet their needs
  • stepping down from hospital, an assessment and treatment unit, or a secure setting
  • looking for a new home following a placement breakdown.

Our approach to learning disability care

Our approach is shaped around the principles of Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, helping people have choice and control, maintain or develop independence, and take an active part in everyday life.

Right support

Support shaped around each person’s strengths and needs, helping them make choices, maintain or develop skills, and have greater control.

Right care

Person-centred care that respects each person’s dignity, privacy, rights, communication, preferences, and individual needs.

Right culture

Teams that know and understand each person, build trusted relationships, and support an inclusive, meaningful, and fulfilling life.

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Communication, active support, and independence

Understanding how someone communicates helps them have greater choice, control, and involvement in everyday life.

Our teams use individual communication approaches and active support to help people express their needs and preferences, take part in everyday activities, and maintain or develop skills and independence at their own pace.

A smiling young nurse in blue uniform talks with an older man in a grey jumper in a cosy room.

Positive behaviour support

Behaviour can be a way of communicating distress, discomfort, or an unmet need.

Our teams use positive behaviour support to understand what may be contributing to distress and provide proactive, consistent care using the least restrictive approach possible.

Colleagues receive BILD ACT-certified training and support from our Behaviour Support Specialists.

Read about behaviour support

Find learning disability care

Our Referrals Team can help find the right Exemplar Health Care home for someone with a learning disability and complex needs.

Make a referral
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FAQs about learning disability care

Complex learning disability care supports people whose learning disability occurs alongside additional health, communication, behavioural, sensory, mental health, or physical needs.

Some people require 24-hour nursing, individualised staffing, positive behaviour support, or coordinated support from several healthcare professionals.

Yes, some of our homes can support people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), including people who require high levels of physical assistance, communication support, complex nursing care, and support with most or all everyday activities.

Suitability depends on the person’s individual needs and the capability and care community of the home.

Yes, some of our homes can support people with a forensic background or legal restrictions, subject to individual assessment.

We work with the relevant professionals to understand current risks, legal arrangements, and required support and determine whether these can be safely managed within a community-based care home.

Read about care for people with forensic backgrounds