Joint Statement on the Health of People with Intellectual Disability
We seek commitments for action on the stark health inequalities facing the 100,000 Queenslanders who have intellectual disability. With their close families, this is over 400,000 voters.
This is a joint statement from Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN), Queensland Centre of Excellence in Autism and Intellectual Disability Health (QCEAIDH), Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability (ASID) Queensland Branch, Parent to Parent Association Inc., Down Syndrome Queensland, Community Living Association, Endeavour Foundation, and Multicap.
Queenslanders with intellectual disability die 27 years earlier than the general population. They also experience over twice the rate of potentially avoidable deaths and around four times the rate of avoidable hospitalisations.
The Disability Royal Commission found that people with cognitive disability experience ongoing “systemic neglect” in the health care system, prompting wide-ranging recommendations for action.
We seek commitments from political parties to six immediate priority actions:
- Provide funding to extend the role of new specialised intellectual disability mental health teams across the state to broaden to physical health in each Hospital and Health Service.
- Provide funding to extend the role of the Queensland Centre of Excellence in Intellectual and Developmental Disability Mental Health (delivered by Queensland Centre of Excellence in Autism and Intellectual Disability Health) to broaden its scope to physical health in addition to its existing focus on mental health.
- Establish procedural support and sedation services in each Hospital and Health Service across the state for people with intellectual disability who require additional support to access investigations for their health care including dental care.
- Introduce the requirement for mandatory training in intellectual and developmental disability for Hospital and Health Service staff.
- Enhance access to palliative care, including ensuring people have choice about palliation at home and in shared living arrangements, for people with intellectual disability.
- Ensure availability of Easy Read and other accessible health information for people with intellectual disability that is culturally inclusive.
Read the full statement here: