Special Section: Improving health and equity for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

 

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Health care access improving for people with IDD, but gaps remain
While the U.S. has made considerable inroads to improve health access and outcomes among people with IDD, significant gaps and disparities remain. About 8 million Americans have such disabilities, which are typically present at birth and last throughout a person’s lifetime. They can include both physical and mental impairments due to a range of conditions, such as cerebral palsy, autism and Down syndrome. Read now >> 

Programs train health students to care for people with IDD
With many medical schools spending little or no time on training clinicians to work with people with IDD, students are seeking out programs beyond their universities. Read now >> 

Op-ed: It’s time to expand equity, inclusion work to include people with IDD
There has been increasing recognition to ensuring that accessibility and belonging are a part of diversity, equity and inclusion work. However, even with this intentionality, there is a population that often remains overlooked —people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Read now >> 

Mental health issues for people with IDD can be misunderstood
Nearly 20% of U.S. adults are estimated to be living with a mental illness, according to Mental Health America. But for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, that estimate increases to as high as 35%, with depression a common issue, research has found. Despite the higher prevalence, family and caregivers often overlook mental health conditions in people with IDD, which can include the same conditions that occur in other people, such as anxiety disorders, obsessive behavior or bipolar disorder. Read now >> 

Special Olympics initiative to assess ability of health systems to serve people with IDD
A new Special Olympics global research initiative aims to both reveal and close health care system gaps to better serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Special Olympics recently launched its Rosemary Collaboratory initiative, which tasks research teams with evaluating IDD inclusivity in health care systems in eight countries. Read now >> 

Personal approach improves oral health care of people with IDD
Like many Americans, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities can miss out on regular dental care. But for people with IDD, a range of barriers worsens the problem, leading to poorer oral health among the population. Research shows that people with IDD experience more tooth extractions and cavities, fewer fillings, greater gum inflammation and fewer preventive dental care visits than the general population. Read now >> 

Living with IDD profile: T.J. Gordon – Advocating for health at the intersection of race and IDD
Being a person of color in America comes with its own set of challenges in relation to achieving health and racial equity. Those challenges are no different for people of color with intellectual and developmental disabilities such as Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon, Jr., MFA, MS, a research associate at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Institute on Disability and Human Development. Gordon, who has autism, co-founded the Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition in 2018. Read now >> 

Living with IDD profile: Pauline Bosma — Bringing a voice to people with IDD in the LGBTQ+ community
Pauline Bosma is the founder and coordinator of the Rainbow Support Groups, a network for self-advocates who are members of both the intellectual and developmental disability community and LGBTQ+ community. Bosma, who works for Massachusetts Advocates Standing Strong, identifies as a transgender woman who is labeled with an intellectual disability. Read now >> 

Living with IDD profile: Connie Lewis — Helping people with IDD gain confidence, find independence
Connie Lewis works as an administrative assistant at the University of Montana’s Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities. Lewis is actively engaged in the IDD community and serves as a member of APHA’s IDD Advisory Board. Read now >> 

Living with IDD profile: Ashley Glears — Working toward equity and inclusion
Ashley Glears, who works at The Arc of the United States, advocates for the equity and inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Glears, who was diagnosed with mild cerebral palsy at birth, is part of the IDD community and serves on APHA’s IDD Advisory Board. Read now >> 

Health advocacy can help improve access to care for people with IDD
Public health professionals know the value of advocacy and how it can transform health outcomes, especially for marginalized populations. Among those that can benefit from the work are people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Read now >> 

Dementia rates higher among people with Down syndrome
The U.S. health care system must do better at screening people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for dementia, especially as some members of the population are at higher risk. Read now >>