A UQ project is removing barriers that can make adolescents with intellectual disabilities feel invisible to the health care system.

Director of UQ`s Queensland Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disability (QCIDD), Associate Professor Nick Lennox, is leading the Health Intervention Package.

It is designed to achieve health gains through intervention, which aims to empower adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) and their families as they move towards the increased autonomy of adulthood.

“It is focused at a time when they are moving away from the relative protection of special education schools and targeted paediatric health services to limited and possibly inadequately trained generic health-care providers,” Dr Lennox said.

“There are many barriers to health care including poor communication and recall for health information, devaluing and negative attitudes, inadequate training of health and disability staff, as well as limited government funding to provide support for this population in the community.”

A pilot study of the project in Brisbane had reported noticeable improvements in health care for Australians with ID, Dr Lennox said.  “It showed significant improvements in health screening and health promotion, improved health advocacy and was acceptable to those with ID, their families and GPs,” Dr Lennox said.

Initially supported by the Queensland Government, the project has been awarded $779,500 by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Associate Professor Nick Lennox www.uq.edu.au/uqresearchers/researcher/lennoxng.html

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