ADULTS WITH learning disabilities may not be adequately treated when they experience illnesses the rest of the population take for granted, a leading specialist has suggested.
Speaking at the launch of one of the first formal collaborations between a service provider and a university in the Republic, Dr Tony Holland, Health Foundation Chair in Learning Disabilities at University of Cambridge, said people with intellectual disability had complex and variable needs.
In a bid to meet these needs better, St Michael’s House and the Centre for Disability Studies at UCD have signed a research and teaching agreement, which they say will lead to an improvement of services to people with disabilities and their families.
Intellectual disability, formerly known as learning disability or mental handicap, affects 0.5-1.0 per cent of the adult population, with up to 0.4 per cent of adults considered to have more severe or profound difficulties.
Following a major “state of the science” review he carried out for the UK government, Prof Holland said that for those with mild intellectual disabilities, “there is the potential for greater disparities, further social exclusion, and the problems of substance abuse and criminal justice involvement”.
The review found examples of people with intellectual disability not being treated as well as they might have been when they developed acute illnesses such as appendicitis.
He pointed out that people with Down syndrome, although having a much better life expectancy than before, still continue to have a reduced life expectancy compared with the general population, living to an average age of 55.
Similarly, people with Prader-Willi syndrome (caused by another chromosomal abnormality) are rarely found living into their 50s and 60s; this early mortality is thought to be related to obesity.
“As we understand the specific relationships between a given syndrome and particular health problems, it seems likely that the reasons for differences in life expectancy will be found to be very different between syndromes,” he said.
Prof Holland said it was important to ask, “What circumstances have enabled some individuals to have had positive outcomes in later life and which biological and environmental factors optimise resilience in the face of adversity?”
