The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #36769

Jin-Ding Lin¹, Jia-Ling Wu², and Jane-Fung Yeng¹. (1) School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, P.O. Box 90048-509, Nei-Hu, Taipei, 114, Taiwan, 886-2-87923100 ex 18447, a530706@ndmctsgh.edu.tw, (2) Research Center for Intellectual Disabilities Taiwan (RCIDT), Chung-Hua Foundation for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, P.O Box 90048-509, Nei-Hu, Taipei, 114, Taiwan

The purpose of this study is to examine the health profile of people with intellectual disability (ID) to identify health care needs of them. Within the context of health service, a high quality of health care for persons with ID is paramount in enabling them to achieve maximum integration into society. The commitment, as health care policies for persons with ID is to ensure their health care is at least as good as the general population. Therefore, the challenge is how to deliver health care and how to measure the efficacy of health care to persons with ID. The first and most important step in planning for appropriate services for persons with ID is the gathering of accurate and comprehensive information concerning them. It is particularly important to have a precise view of the health needs of persons with ID. This enables health services to respond to these needs. A structured questionnaire survey was used to collect data of 1390 persons with ID who were cared in institutions for the evaluation of their health profile. The results showed that nearly half of persons with ID in this study were multiple handicaps and 63% had other impairments also. The illness prevalence was 41%, epilepsy and psychosis were the most prevalent diseases. Given the lack of health care service literature on persons with ID in Taiwan, this study represents one of the first health needs approaches to this population. The findings have great implications for policy development in health care services for persons with ID in Taiwan.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate the procedure for assessing tha health status of persons with intellectual disability, and list main health indicators of these population.

Keywords: Health Needs, Disability

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.