What Choice: A Consideration of the Level of Opportunity for People with Mild and Moderate Learning Disabilities to Lead a Physically Active Healthy Lifestyle

Abstract

This paper addresses two questions. Firstly, do inequalities of opportunity exist between the general population and adults with mild and moderate learning disabilities to lead a physically active lifestyle? Secondly, should the provision of equivalent opportunities be considered a human right? For the learning disability population the right to opportunities to be physically active can be divided into primary and secondary rights, the former is the right to opportunities, the latter is whether and how the opportunities are taken up. The principle of distributive justice gives people with a learning disability the same right as others to be physically active. Realisation of such a right would bring the potential for tangible health benefits. This review suggests that care in the community is insufficiently resourced to provide adequately beyond basic needs and that significant inequalities do exist between the general and learning disability populations in relations to opportunities and choices to be physically active.