In 2007 the Australian Commonwealth Government announced the Medicare Health Assessment for People with an Intellectual Disability as part of the Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) program (Department of Health and Ageing, 2008). The annual health assessment is a structured framework for general practitioners (GPs), which enables an annual comprehensive…

Background: Research addressing the experiences of families of adults with Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease in seeking diagnosis and gaining support is limited. The aim of this study was to gain a greater understanding of these processes by exploring the experiences of families and carers in supporting people with Down syndrome and…

Background: Relationships develop through social interaction and assist with participation and inclusion. Little is known about how relationships develop between people with severe intellectual disability who have limited communication and others. Method: Interactions were observed between 6 adults with severe intellectual disability and paid…

Background: People with severe intellectual disability have limited communication skills, small social networks, and may experience isolation. Little is known about how interactions occur with social network members and the role of social support. Method: An adult with a severe intellectual disability was observed in her daily environments. Her…

Disability support personnel within Australia include those who provide direct and daily care to people with intellectual disability (ID), largely in residential and day service contexts. Their roles and responsibilities are many, calling on far ranging skills. Yet, they come to these roles with levels of education that range from incomplete high…

Background: The primary communication partner for many people with profound intellectual disability (PID) who are living in supported accommodation is their disability support worker (DSW). The experiences of DSWs in interacting with people with PID have received limited attention in the literature. Method: The nature of interactions between…

Background: Negative attitudes towards people with developmental disabilities, including intellectual disabilities (ID), have the potential to contribute to the poor healthcare received by this group. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the attitudes of fourth year undergraduate medical students towards interacting with people with…

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate active support (AS) training and to investigate changes to perceived engagement in domestic tasks, opportunities for choice, frequency of challenging behaviour, and level of support needs. Method: Participants were 12 adults with ID aged 27-57 years (M = 37 years) residing in three group homes, and…

Background: The aim of this study was to explore, from the perspective of key communication partners, the meaning of a communication intervention and associated changes for an adult with severe intellectual disability (ID). Method: The parents and key support workers of Mark, a 22-year-old man with ID and complex communication needs, were…

General practitioners (GPs) from the Australian state of Victoria and support people were surveyed about their concerns and priorities for meeting the health care needs of people with developmental disabilities. Despite the poor response rate (22% and 27%), sampling adequacy was obtained, and the tools were found to have construct validity.…

The aim of this article is to consider the implications for research involving people with intellectual disability--a vulnerable group--of ethics committees' attempts to apply these guidelines. The issue explored is whether committees such as Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECS) and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are becoming increasingly…

Evident from the responses to the author's paper is the fact that other researchers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia have had cause to consider the issues that contribute to the complexities of involving people with intellectual disabilities, who may not be able to provide their own consent, in research. Comments by Aman and…

Background: The "Triple C" was designed to assess the communication skills of people with severe disabilities and to sensitise support workers to their communicative behaviours. The study aim was to investigate the Triple C's internal consistency and construct validity. Method: Deidentified data from the completed checklists of 172 adults with…

The aims of this study were to evaluate components of a new tool, the Assessment of Sexual Knowledge (ASK), and to use it to assess the sexual knowledge of adults with intellectual disability. The ASK consists of a Knowledge Section, an Attitudes Section, a Quick Knowledge Quiz and a Problematic Socio-Sexual Behaviours Checklist. A sample of 96…