Scenario: Anxiety and health assessments

This video was developed with and acted by people with an intellectual disability. It represents the results from the IDS-TILDA study, which told us that almost 20% of older adults with an intellectual disability had difficulty with communication. This figure increased with the severity of the level of intellectual disability.

What is of concern is that one in every three adults said they had difficulty in making themselves understood when speaking with health care professionals.

The scenario portrayed in the video reflects these results. The person going to the doctor is anxious, and subsequently does not voice her real concerns despite the doctor being pleasant.

As you will see in the next article, communication is one of the many barriers that create health disparity. Greater emphasis on communication to ensure success for the person with intellectual disabilities is needed. This will be the focus of Week 2 of this course.

Health disparities, as you have learned, do exist, and if the person cannot express their needs, health conditions can be overlooked.

Recognising that people with an intellectual disability do have communication challenges, initiating tools to support communication, will contribute to overcoming the challenges.