ABSTRACT
Background
People with learning disabilities face significant health inequalities, including lower life expectancy and greater physical and mental health challenges. Community engagement approaches are increasingly used in health and social care to address these disparities, yet little is known about their impact. This review explored community engagement models in health and social care for people with learning disabilities.
Methods
A search strategy combining ‘community engagement’ and ‘learning disability’ was used to identify studies across multiple electronic databases. Studies were included if they provided empirical data on community engagement for people with learning disabilities. Data extraction enabled descriptive analyses, characterising studies in terms of focus, topic area, setting, and factors influencing implementation. Risk of bias was assessed using the MMAT.
Findings
Seven papers met the inclusion criteria. Key enablers included embedding approaches within existing services, context-specific model adaptation, recruiting a coordinator to integrate cross-sector working, and supportive state policy encouraging community ownership. Barriers included a lack of standardisation, particularly inconsistent definitions of community engagement, varied approaches across services and the absence of clear outcome measures, making it difficult to assess impact. Additional barriers included cross-sector culture clashes and complex needs prohibiting participation of people with learning disabilities.
Conclusion
Community engagement shows promise in addressing health inequalities, but further research is needed to measure its impact on patient outcomes compared to standard care. Findings can guide researchers and policymakers in implementing contextually relevant community engagement approaches.
Clinical Trial Registration
N/A.