Background: The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) provides the benchmark for assessing human rights and citizenship for people with disabilities. This emphasises autonomy, choice, independence, equality and participation for individuals as its fundamental guiding principles. Methods: This paper explores the exercise…

Background: Depression, anxiety, diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors are frequent health problems among older people with intellectual disability (ID). These conditions may be bidirectionally related. Depression and anxiety may have biological effects causing glucose intolerance, fat accumulation and also lifestyle changes causing metabolic…

Background: As adults with intellectual disability age, retirement options need to be explored. One option is to attend a mainstream community group for retirees. Support within these groups could come from group members who are trained to act as mentors for the older adults with intellectual disability. This research evaluated a support training…

Background: The natural history of thyroid function in adults with Down syndrome is relatively unknown with limited long-term follow-up data. Method: This study investigated annual thyroid function tests in 200 adults with Down syndrome over a 15-year period. Results: For healthy adults with Down syndrome there is a gradual increase in thyroxine…

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the use of actigraphy to investigate sleep problems in a convenience sample of clients of Dutch intellectual disability (ID) care providers. Based on data obtained in a large multi-centre study on healthy ageing in people with ID, research questions were: "To what degree are actigraphic…

Background: Epidemiological information on age-related cardiovascular disease in people with intellectual disability (ID) is scarce and inconclusive. We compared prevalence and incidence of cerebrovascular accident and myocardial infarction over age 50 in a residential population with ID to that in a general practice population. Method: Lifetime…

Background: Considerable attention is currently being directed towards both active ageing and the revising of standards for disability services within Australia and internationally. Yet, to date, no consideration appears to have been given to ways to promote active ageing among older adults with intellectual disabilities (IDs). Methods:…

Background: Planning for future care after the death of parental caregivers and adapting disability support systems to achieve the best possible quality of life for people with intellectual disability as they age have been important issues for more than two decades. This study examined perceptions held by family members, group home staff and…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities (IDs) are growing older as a population cohort. Many live at home with family members who are their carers but who are also becoming older and less able to provide care. The housing and support preferences of people with IDs and their carers into older age are poorly characterised in the…

Background: Aging adults with Down's syndrome (DS) experience more relocations and other life events than adults with intellectual disabilities aged 50 and older without DS. Age-related functional decline and the higher incidence of dementia were implicated as the contributing factors that led to relocation and nursing home placement. Method: A…

Background: Mobility limitations increase with age in the general population. Despite a growing population of older adults with intellectual disabilities (ID), mobility is rarely studied in the ID literature. The specific aim of this study was to identify and summarise primary literature investigating mobility limitations in adults with ID.…

Background: Australia's national ageing policy recognises that people ageing with intellectual disability (ID) require particular attention, yet there is no policy framework concerning this population. This study describes the distribution and characteristics of people with ID in residential aged care in Victoria, provides insights into the…

Background: Little account has been taken of quality of life (QoL) among family carers of adults with an intellectual disability (ID) and family carers of adults with a mental illness (MI), particularly the female ageing carers' perceived stigma. We explore whether there are differences in the significant predictors of female ageing family carers'…

Background: Regular physical activity is one of the modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). With an increasing age profile and similar patterns of morbidity to the general population, persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) and their caregivers would benefit from data that indicate CHD risk factors. Knowledge of the CHD risk…

Background: Depression is more common among persons with an intellectual disability (ID) than the general population, and may be expected to increase with age just as in the general population. However, little is known about depression among older adults with ID. The literature has questioned the use of standard diagnostic criteria for depression…