Intellectual disability Flashcards
What is learning (intellectual) disability?
- An IQ below 70
- Significantly reduced ability to understand complex information or learn new skills (impaired intelligence).
- Reduced ability to cope independently
(impaired social functioning). - A condition that starts before adulthood and has a lasting effect.
- Often described as a hidden disability
(not immediately obvious).
What are issues for people with LD?
- Limited expressive language and difficulty understanding and responding to questions.
- Difficulty recalling and processing information.
- A tendency to be acquiescent (ready to accept something without protest) or suggestible (open to suggestion; easily swayed)
- Difficulty understanding some social norms such as body language or tone of voice
- Difficulty reading, writing, filling forms, telling the time, concentrating for long periods
What is Additional information about LD
- People with LD have greater health and mental health needs, and often have co-existing conditions.
- It is estimated that 1-2 percent of the population have learning (intellectual) disability. This equates to about 32,000 people.
- Two-thirds of this number (about 19,000) receive funding from the MoH.
- We know very little about people who do not access services.
What are Additional vulnerabilities
Presumption of incompetence or lack of capacity for decision making.
Inaccessible communication styles and strategies.
Lack of professional education and training in recognising or responding to learning disability (or other social or neuro diversities)
Whats the Ministry of Disabled People
Established 1 July 2022
Office for Disability Issues now part of this
What is UNCRPD
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
What does UNCRPD Article 1 state?
“To promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.”
What does UNCRPD – Article 25 Health state?
Provide persons with disabilities with the same range, quality and standard of free or affordable health care and programmes as provided to other persons
Provide those health services needed by persons with disabilities specifically because of their disabilities
Provide these health services as close as possible to people’s own communities, including in rural areas
What are the health issues for people with intellectual disability
Men with LD had a life expectancy 18 years below that of all NZ males (59.7 years)
Women with LD had a life expectancy of almost 23 years below that of all NZ females.
Found to consult their GP 1.5 times more than other NZers.
Women with LD less likely to have had breast screening, and much less likely to have cervical screening.
4 times more likely to have avoidable public hospital admissions.
Increased risk of exposure to well established ‘social determinants’ of health
Increased risk associated with specific genetic and biological causes
Communication and reduced health literacy
Personal health risks and behaviours
Deficiencies in access to and quality of healthcare provision.
What are the solutions to these health problems people with LD experience?
Adopting: Adopting a life-course perspective; (children, older adults, those living more independently);
Improving: Improving early identification of illness by implementing annual health checks;
Ensuring: Ensuring that women with learning disability have access to
breast and cervical screening.
Increasing: Increasing disability content (including health risks associated with particular conditions, and communication styles and strategies) within all levels of health professional education
Enhancing the health literacy of people with learning disability, family carers, and paid carers so that they can take greater responsibility for own health
Making reasonable adjustments in all areas of health promotion and
healthcare. (No public health promotion strategies specifically target
people with learning disabilities)
Accessible information and longer appointments
Ensuring that people with learning disabilities are included in population
health databases and surveillance.
