Breaking bad news to people with learning disabilities: barriers and tools
Why you should read this article:
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To recognise the challenges in breaking bad news to people with learning disabilities
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To consider various tools that you could use in your practice to break bad news
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To count towards revalidation as part of your 35 hours of CPD, or you may wish to write a reflective account (UK readers)
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To contribute towards your professional development and local registration renewal requirements (non-UK readers)
Breaking bad news is a challenging aspect of healthcare professionals’ roles in any setting. In learning disability settings, specific challenges compound the difficulty of this task. For example, a person who has cognitive difficulties may not understand an abstract concept such as death; the person’s family may be concerned that hearing bad news will be too distressing for them; or the healthcare professional may be reluctant to talk about death because of their own beliefs and values.
This article discusses the barriers related to breaking bad news to people with learning disabilities. It also describes several tools – generic and specific to the learning disability field – which healthcare professionals can use to inform and improve their practice in this area.
