Overview
Extensive peer reviewed research consistently demonstrates stark health inequalities for
people with intellectual disability or developmental disability.
These groups experience very poor health outcomes and major barriers to healthcare. At present health professionals are not trained in healthcare for these groups and as such often have limited awareness of best principles of practice, lack content specific knowledge, and are often not abreast of contemporary thinking about valuing people with disability.
People with intellectual or developmental disability are particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes associated with COVID-19. Governments and leading health and disability organisations need to take urgent action to prepare and equip:
- all levels of our health care sector to be able to work with these groups, and their support networks to prevent, screen, and treat COVID-19.
- the disability sector to be able to support the health care needs of these groups during this pandemic.