Regional research leads call to help people with learning disabilities (LD) join health research studies, in correspondence published by The Lancet - one of the world's oldest and most prestigious medical journals. People with LD are often excluded from studies by the criteria in place to protect them. In 2019, the team led by CPFT's Professor Jesus Perez and Sam Spaul at UEA reviewed 26, 293 studies in England on the National Institute for Health Research portfolio to uncover the extent of the problem. They found that over 60% excluded learning disability groups, and only 368 (1.4%) studies were related to learning disabilities. More investigation is needed to remove barriers so people can take part in clinical research for better health outcomes, and to reduce premature LD deaths. Read more here
Photo by kind permission of Burwell Print: www.burwellprint.co.uk, a social enterprise supporting people with learning disabilities