Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed enormous strain on health systems around the world, undermining the mental health and wellbeing of healthcare workers. Supporting people with intellectual disabilities may be particularly challenging for workers, as some people with intellectual disabilities may have a limited understanding of the…

Background: This paper concerns mortality and needs for end-of-life care in a population of adults with ID living in generic care homes. Methods: Various sampling strategies were used to identify a difficult to find a population of people with ID in generic care homes. Demographic and health data were obtained for 132 people with ID. This included…

Background: This study explored antiepileptic drug use, frequency of seizures, and the effect of psychotropic drugs with the potential to lower the seizure threshold in persons diagnosed with epilepsy and intellectual disability. Methods: Data for this study were drawn from Wave 3 of the Intellectual Disability Supplement to the Irish Longitudinal…

Background: As the life expectancy of people with intellectual disability increases, they may now outlive their parents or their parents' ability to continue to care. Siblings of adults with intellectual disability often succeed their parents as primary carers. Little is known about the health and well-being of this important cohort of carers who…

This paper explores contemporary Irish social policy for family caregivers with specific focus on the dynamic between the individual, the family and the state in terms of the social contract for care provision for people with intellectual disability. Drawing from Bacchi's analytical framework (Bacchi, 2009), the Irish National Carers' Strategy is…

Background: Population-based data are presented on the nature of dying in intellectual disability services. Methods: A retrospective survey was conducted over 18 months with a sample of UK-based intellectual disability service providers that supported over 12,000. Core data were obtained for 222 deaths within this population. For 158 (71%) deaths,…

Background: This article aims to understand moral distress in carers of people with an intellectual disability during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Nine staff carers of seven people with an intellectual disability, who had been participants of the IDS-TILDA study in Ireland, who died during the COVID-19 pandemic participated in in-depth,…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities are living longer, with family homes and family caregivers increasingly identified as a key support to this ageing population of people with intellectual disabilities. Method: This systematic review sets out existing evidence from empirically evaluated intervention studies of future care planning…

Background: Before COVID-19, people with intellectual disabilities were digitally excluded, facing difficulties accessing and using technology. The pandemic outbreak closed down many in-person services and supports for this population. Methods: This study examined changes in technology use to support the healthcare and social connections of older…

Background: Transport is an important basis for social participation. Challenges to accessing and using transport for people with intellectual disabilities increase their risk of exclusion and loneliness. Method: Data from a nationally representative study of older people with intellectual disabilities (n = 708) were used to examine longitudinal…

Background: Choking is a serious and under-recognised condition for adults with intellectual disability (ID), with health, psychological and potentially fatal consequences. This study aims to determine the prevalence and risk factors for choking in a population-based sample of older adults with ID. Method: 597 adults with ID (mean age: 60 years…

Background: Friendship is important to quality of life, yet people with intellectual disability have more restricted social networks and fewer friends outside family and support staff. Method: Data from a nationally representative longitudinal study of older adults with intellectual disability (aged >40) examined rates and types of friends.…

Background: While higher rates and earlier onset of frailty have been reported among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), research on how best to support these individuals is lacking. Method: An international consultation relied on three consensus building methods--the Nominal Group Technique, an NIH consensus conference…

Background: Adults with an intellectual disability (ID) have much lower rates of employment than their counterparts without intellectual disability, which increases their risk of poverty and social exclusion. Differential treatment of people with intellectual disability in welfare and training policies suggests an expectation they will be passive…

Most people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) live at home with family, and most carers and care recipients wish to continue this arrangement. However, despite worry about what will happen when carers are unable to continue caring, most families do not plan for the future. The "Future Care Road Map" (FCRM) pilot study sought to…