Older People with Learning Difficulties Leaving Institutional Care—A Case of Double Jeopardy

People with learning difficulties are now surviving into old age and more and more of them are being resettled from long-stay hospitals. The main purpose of this article is to examine some of the key barriers facing, and dilemmas involved in, the provision of community-based services to this newly emerging user group. The findings of some recent field research on older people with learning difficulties who have been resettled into the community are used to illustrate the challenges facing service providers. Particular reference is made to the impact of age discrimination and traditional differences between service specialisms. The article shows that both official definitions of need in old age and the aspirations of the service responses to those needs have been artificially constructed in very narrow terms, especially when compared with the principled approach to service provision for younger people with learning difficulties. In conclusion, therefore, it is argued that the principles underpinning services for people with learning difficulties, such as normalisation, should be applied to older people as well.