Triangle Housing Association and Gordon's Chemist

Breaking down barriers

Triangle Housing Association provides housing to people including those with learning disabilities who are supported to live independently. This BCPP project engaged with a group of adults with a learning disability in order to build relationships and promote independence in understanding and managing healthcare.

The project aimed to develop the group’s skills and knowledge in using and accessing health care services appropriately while identifying and reducing barriers to inclusion. Topics over the weeks included the role of the pharmacist, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, sexual health and looking after your mental health. The sessions were interactive and were a mix of information sessions, videos, group work, exercise activities and health checks. Sessions were delivered by Tom, the Pharmacist, Triangle Housing Association and other organisations such as Aware NI and the Family Planning Association.

The people with learning difficulties involved in the group certainly benefited from this Level 1 BCPP project as they explored all of the topics at a pace that suited them. The practical activities such as trying on the ‘fat suit’ so they could feel the impact on their bodies of carrying excess weight and looking at the Eat Well plate had great engagement from the group and led to many questions. Competition set in when the group members were given pedometers and the Pharmacist’s dog, Sally, got plenty of walks!

‘Our BCPP project has been a great success. People with learning disabilities often face challenges within society, such as poor access to mainstream services and a lack of accessible information in relation to these. We wanted to help break down some of those barriers and this project helped us to do just that. By working in partnership with the Pharmacist, we were able to deliver information, tailored to their need and interests, in an accessible and engaging way. Everyone involved had great fun getting to know each other better whilst at the same time developing their skills. The participants’ growing confidence was evident for all to see as they engaged, asked questions and applied their learnings as the sessions progressed. Tom and the other facilitators benefited by gaining a better understanding of the abilities and communication preferences of people with a learning disability.’

Leanne McCafferty, Triangle Housing Association

‘Working on this BCPP project was great fun, we learned a lot from the Pharmacist. We all became better friends through the project – now we go on outings, call to visit each other and watch movies together weekly. We even decided to put our learning into practice by cooking a healthy lunch and we’re going to continue to do that.'

Participant