Cultivating understanding of health issues for adults with intellectual disability

Going into hospital may be a frightening experience. Fears and anxieties may be particularly compounded when the patient has an existing health diagnosis such as a mental health condition or intellectual disabilities (ID). While people with ID often have worse health than other people, they can experience more difficulty accessing healthcare.

The aim of this paper is to describe the self-evaluation process and outcome of a series of workshops designed to cultivate understanding of the health needs of adults with ID.

The research was designed to explore the impact of the workshops for generic healthcare professionals, using a mixed methods inquiry.

The workshops were interactive, and facilitated by health care clinicians, three people with an ID, advocates and academics.

Participants were mainly qualified and unqualified nurses and other allied health professionals (N=157).

Quantitative questionnaires comprised of 16 questions with multiple choice answers were distributed to all participants (pre and post workshop). A qualitative feedback sheet to promote shared dialogues was circulated on completion of each workshop.

Triangulated research methods of data collection demonstrate a positive impact of the workshops and the learning experienced from a participant perspective.

While resources alone will never replace nurse education and training, they can reinforce best practice, and the resource developed in this paper was maximized by workshops to explore its potential. The remaining challenge is measuring the impact of this work on clinical practice in the longer term.