Developing a compassion focused therapy post-diagnostic pathway following eligibility assessments for learning disabilities in the community learning disability teams

There are limited national guidelines for post-diagnostic support for people with learning disabilities. The project aimed to outline the current post-diagnostic process in Community Learning Disability Teams (CLDTs) at a National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in the Northwest of England; highlight any barriers in delivering post-diagnostic care and improve the post-diagnostic pathway using a Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) informed approach. Eight clinical psychologists across the Trust’s CLDTs participated in remote focus groups. Thematic analysis of the data identified themes including current processes, therapy issues, challenges in providing support, pathway needs and CFT incorporation. Recommendations were made to develop a post-diagnostic pathway and provide CFT resources to people with learning disabilities following an eligibility assessment within CLDTs. Easy to read summary ■ It is important to support people when they have been diagnosed with a learning disability, because we know the journey can feel confusing. ■ Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) is a type of support that helps people understand and manage their feelings by being kind to themselves and others. ■ Psychologists from community learning disability teams talked about what support is available, what makes it difficult to offer support and how to make support better using CFT. ■ Psychologists said that making CFT resources would improve support following a learning disability diagnosis.