Feeling Well - Guided Self-Help Booklets

Most people with a learning disability rely on emotional support from family or support workers. They only get specialist mental health support when their difficulties reach crisis point. In a 2022 UK survey of 355 people with learning disabilities, 93% of those who reported feeling sad, angry or worried said they received support from family or paid carers compared to 13% who received support from a mental health professional. Rates of antidepressant use are much higher for people with learning disabilities and are increasing over time.

In earlier research, we developed a set of guided self-help booklets in collaboration with people with learning disabilities.  The booklets were included in a large trial of psychological therapies for people with learning disabilities and depression and were linked with sustained improvements in people’s depression and quality of life (Jahoda et al, 2017).  When the COVID-19 pandemic started it became very difficult to get professional support for emotional problems. To help provide support, we re-purposed and added to the set of guided self-help booklets to cover a broader range of emotional difficulties. This allowed individuals with learning disabilities to select the booklets they felt could help address difficulties they were facing. People with learning disabilities, their families and support workers who used the booklets found them to be a valuable resource (Maguire et al, 2022).

Even now, there continues to be limited access to mental health professionals. As a result, family carers or support workers often take a lead in supporting people’s emotional wellbeing. This means that there is still an urgent need for resources to foster wellbeing that can be used by people with learning disabilities living with family or with social care support. To this end we have refreshed the booklets for use in the present day.

Aims
The main idea of the booklets is to give people the understanding and skills to cope better with their feelings and the problems that they are facing, helping them to feel better. 

How they work
The booklets are designed for a person with a learning disability to talk through with someone they know well and are happy to confide in. They can go through the booklets with might be a family member, friend, or support worker. The booklets are also suitable for health professionals.

How many booklets are there?
There are six booklets:

Feeling down, Feeling Anxious and Feeling angry and Staying calm are about helping people understand their feelings and to help them talk about their emotions. These also include ideas about how to cope better. 

You can do it and A good night’s sleep show how keeping active and sleeping well are important for a person’s well-being. They also include practical ideas about ways of getting more active and how to sleep better.

Sort it out is about helping people understand the benefits of problem solving and learning how to problem solve.

Relaxation: The booklets also have a link to a film showing how to do relaxation exercises.

There are printed versions available as well as digital, downloadable versions available. However, it was found that people prefer having printed copies of the booklets because it means that the person and their supporter can write down their ideas or draw pictures. The booklets are then theirs to keep and they show what the person has achieved. Having copies also means that the person with learning disabilities can go through them again with their supporter or another person in the future. 

Support for using the booklets

In addition to written information about how someone can support a person with a learning disability to go through the booklets, a short training film is also available. This gives more information about the booklets and how to get the most out of them.

Which booklets to use

The person with a learning disability and their supporter can decide which booklets are most helpful to use.  If the person is having difficulties with their emotions, then it might be best to start with the difficulties they are facing. It could be feeling down, being anxious or angry. The booklets about ways of staying well or feeling better could be used next. These booklets are: 

A good night’s sleep

You can do it

Sort it out

The staying well booklets can also be used on their own to support people’s well-being.