Who uses social care?

Adults with learning disabilities

There are many different types of learning disability.  Most develop before or during birth or because of a serious illness in early childhood.  A learning disability is life-long and usually has a significant impact on a person's life. A learning disability is a diagnosis, but it is not a disease, nor is it a physical or mental illness.  A learning disabilities diagnosis has three criteria: Intellectual impairment; Social or adaptive dysfunction; and early onset, i.e. impairments are present from childhood. 

People with a learning disability are more likely to experience common social determinants of poor health including poverty, poor housing, unemployment, social isolation and discrimination.

Adults with physical disabilities and sensory impairment

Islington’s disability programme is founded on the social model of disability and the principles of independent living. This recognises that disability is caused by barriers that exist within society and the way society is organised. Compared with non-disabled people, disabled people are more likely to: live in poverty; be unemployed; experience hate crime or harassment; experience problems accessing housing; experience problems accessing public transport. 

The definition of physical and sensory impairment or disability is broad and subjective making it difficult to quantify the size and level of need of Islington’s disabled population.

Older people

People in Islington are living longer and as a result the proportion of people aged 65 and over is increasing. There are about 22,000 people aged over 65 living in Islington. This is 9% of the population (compared to 18% in England) and is projected to increase to 35% (+ 7,800 more older people) of the population by 2031.