Background: People with intellectual disabilities are at much higher risk of preventable deaths compared to the general community. However, studies identifying the cause of death in people with intellectual disability are generally based on one primary cause which is frequently attributed to the person's disability. Therefore, the aim of this…

Background: The hospital or health passport is widely acknowledged as a central element in making reasonable adjustments for patients with intellectual disabilities. Historically, the health passport has been used exclusively for patients with intellectual disabilities; however, it has wider applications for any patient requiring additional…

Background: Local governments play an important role in supporting people with intellectual disability to feel included in their local communities and local-level inclusion is an increasing priority for councils and local authorities in many countries. However, people with intellectual disability themselves have had little involvement in setting…

Background: Current evidence indicates that intellectual disability and gender are both factors in differential usage of services. However, there are limited data about the demographic and service usage patterns of people with intellectual disability who use mental health services. This is particularly true in relation to women with intellectual…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities living in group homes often have complex health needs, are high health service users and need support from their service provider to access health services. In Australia, little is known about the types and amounts of these supports. Methods: A case study was conducted on a large Western Australian…

Background: Over 10 years ago, Lisa Scott first began making art at a studio in Sydney that supports people with intellectual disability to realise their creative ambitions. In this article, we consider what it has meant for Lisa to become an artist and, in the process, share the story of other big changes in her life. Methods: During…

Background: Participation-focused interventions are gaining momentum. The Pathways and Resources for Engagement and Participation (PREP) is one such intervention, and it was investigated in this study for its effectiveness in supporting participation in employment-related activities for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Australia.…

Background: This paper was written by researchers with and without intellectual disability working in two Australian universities. Each university has an inclusive programme. The co-researchers were former students of these programmes. The reason for this study was to find out what people in these two programmes did while they were at university,…

Background: Negative attitudes remain a major barrier to the equality of people with disability, especially when coupled with the lack of autonomy imposed on many people. This paper analyses how disability self-advocacy groups seek to change community attitudes and work towards systemic change by mobilising knowledge from their lived experience.…

Background: Students with intellectual disability often do not receive holistic sex education, which is critical for their successful transition to post-school life, including having an ability to make healthy choices about their sexuality and relationships. The aim of this inclusive research study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of…

Background: This study investigated perceived quality of life (QoL) of community-dwelling middle-aged adults (30-50 years) with an intellectual disability and/or developmental disability living in rural or urban areas in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. The specific aim of the current paper was to provide a descriptive evidence base of…

Background: Access to support services in rural areas is known to be problematic both in Australia, and in other countries around the world, but the majority of research on the population of people ageing with learning disability has so far focussed on metropolitan residents. The authors report about select aspects of the lived experience of older…