The Green Light 2013 Toolkit, launched in the UK aims to inform as well as provide a guide for mental health professionals working with autistic individuals and people with learning disabilities.
A report carried out last year by the National Development Team for inclusion (NDTi) found that some areas of England had begun to make adjustments in mental health services for autistic individuals and those with learning disabilities who access their services but that more needs to be done.
Nursing in Practice states that:
“As a result of the report the NHS Confederation, supported by the Department of Health, commissioned NDTi to produce materials to help services review their own quality and share good practice.”
The Green Light 2013 Toolkit includes both a framework and a database which gives examples of the reasonable adjustments needed to be made by mental health services.
The toolkit states:
“The legal obligations that mental health services must address in relation to the impact of mental illness on mental capacity, human rights and deprivation of liberty safeguards are no less important for people whose ability to make independent and informed decisions and to communicate their intentions is impaired by learning disability or autism.”
The toolkit is available to view on the NDTi website.
The original article posted on Nursing in Practice can be viewed here.