Companions in learning disability primary care consultations

CPMS code:  56037

Lead Network: West of England

Study Summary

When people with learning disabilities (LD) visit the GP, they are often accompanied by a ‘companion'. A companion can be a member of social care staff or a friend/family member who supports the patient with LD. Understanding the companions play in health consultations is vital for providing good healthcare for people with learning disabilities, who routinely experience gross health inequalities. Clarity in this role and the challenges faced is essential so that companions have appropriate guidance to ensure that the people they support have better outcomes from their primary care visits. However, it can be hard for a companion to navigate what their role should be, including their responsibility in the interaction, when to speak and when to support the person with learning disabilities to speak. At present, there is no guidance for them to support them in this complicated role. This study consists of two parts: 1) a scoping review into the role of companions for learning disability primary care visits2) recording and analysing 30 primary care consultations in10 practices patients with learning disabilities are accompanied by a companion. We will use conversation analysis to examine how patients are supported in the consultation, and what their involvement. Anonymised clips of these videos will also be analysed by co-researchers with learning disabilities. The study findings will be used to co-produce 3 communication-focused training videos with a learning disability theatre group aimed at patients, companions and GPs to support companions to give guidance and support, and how to manage three-way interactions for all parties. The project lead has previously co- created communication training videos which have been used internationally. We think these new videos will have the same impact.

The search files hosted on this website are based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria as described in the study protocol and have been built and tested with input from our GP Champion teams. Every effort is made to keep the search files  hosted here maintained and up-to-date. 

However, it is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to review the search and make any practice specific amendments as deemed necessary*. 

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