Improving healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities. The development of an evidence-based teaching programme

Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities,Volume 10, Issue 6, November 2016. Purpose To develop and implement an educational programme to improve medical students' attitudes towards intellectual disabilities. The ultimate goal is to improve the healthcare outcomes for individuals with intellectual disability. Design/methodology/approach The development of an educational programme involving actors with an intellectual disability as simulated patients. Scenarios were developed involving basic healthcare interactions. The programme was piloted in three sessions with 45 students. An qualitative analysis of student feedback was then used to develop a student attitude questionnaire for completion pre and post educational intervention. Findings The Student Attitude Questionnaire was completed by 23 different medical students. Two domains were analysed: Affect and Understanding Domain scores, mean difference (95%CI) 3.17(2.41-3.94) p<0.001, Knowledge and Skills Domain scores, mean difference (95%CI) 4.22(3.3-5.14) p<0.001. Originality/value Following the publication of recent enquiries into the deaths of people with intellectual disabilities. We know that many of these deaths are premature and potentially preventable. The main failing identified repeatedly is that healthcare staff lack of awareness of the needs of people with intellectual disabilities. This emanates from poor quality, and limited curricula time dedicated to int...
Source: Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities - Category: Disability Source Type: research