New project promotes accessible health resources for people with intellectual disability

The Making Health Information Accessible for People with an Intellectual Disability project will be undertaken by the Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry (3DN), which is part of the School of Psychiatry within the University of New South Wales (NSW) School of Medicine.  

Project Officer, Dr Janelle Weise, says the project will analyse the accessibility of health-related information people with intellectual disability access and provide recommendations on the type of resources that need to be developed and implemented to promote access and participation in the Australian health care system.

“People with an intellectual disability can experience communication impairments and these impairments have been identified as a barrier to accessing and participating in health care,” Dr Weise says. 

“Accessible health-related information is important for supporting the best health outcomes for people with an intellectual disability.”

She says there is limited literature available on the accessibility of health-related information for people with an intellectual disability across their health journey.

The project has been funded by the Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Office, NSW Ministry of Health and is being carried out by researchers, Professor Julian Trollor, Dr Janelle Weise and Ms Bronwyn Newman from 3DN.

 The researchers are currently recruiting people with an intellectual disability who are over 18 years old, have had a mental or physical health problem and live in NSW.

If you want to get involved in the Making Health Information Accessible for People with an Intellectual Disability project you can contact Dr Weise at [email protected] or call on (02) 9931 9160.

You can find out more about here. https://3dn.unsw.edu.au/project/making-health-information-accessible-people-intellectual-disability.