Safety and quality issues in health care for people with intellectual disability
International and national research identifies a number of safety and quality issues in health care for people with intellectual disability, including:[17],[18],[19],[20]
- Higher mortality rate and comparatively lower life expectancy than people without intellectual disability3,10,20,[21]
- Preventable hospitalisations
- High morbidity, including from chronic disease
- Unmet healthcare needs such as delayed diagnosis and/or treatment
- Risks from polypharmacy
- Greater likelihood of being subject to restrictive practices
- High burden of potentially preventable health conditions
- Lower rates of access to preventive health and screening programs.