The Centre has released its Position Statement on health workforce education and training to support people with intellectual disability.
Read our full Position Statement here.
An Easy Read version is available here.
Read our Background and evidence paper to learn about the evidence and methods used to develop the Position Statement, and to find more detail about its recommendations.
Watch a video about our Position Statement.
Our position
Every health professional must learn how to provide quality health care to people with intellectual disability because everyone has the right to safe, respectful, effective and inclusive health care.
The problem
People with intellectual disability have some of the poorest health outcomes in Australia. Many of these outcomes can be avoided with better access to high-quality and inclusive health care.
People with intellectual disability are part of every community, and most health professionals will support people with intellectual disability at some point during their careers.
University courses teach very little, if anything, about intellectual disability and health professionals are not required to do training in this area. As a result, much of the Australian health workforce is not yet equipped to provide accessible and high-quality health care to people with intellectual disability. This can and must change.
The solution
Better education and training for health professionals is one of the top requests made by people with intellectual disability in consultations with the Centre and is viewed by other sector experts as a key to improving health care for people with intellectual disability.
The National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health calls for a coordinated, national approach to upskill today’s and tomorrow’s health workforce. All health professionals must have the knowledge and skills to provide high-quality health care to people with intellectual disability.
Education and training must:
- be grounded in human rights and dignity,
- reflect the diversity and lived experiences of people with intellectual disability and value them as experts in their own lives,
- encourage self-reflection on attitudes and biases, and
- align with best-practice and person-centred care.
Education and training are how we turn good intentions into safer care.
Our recommendations
- Education about intellectual disability should be a compulsory part of tertiary courses for all future health professionals.
- Health students should have more opportunities for clinical and non-clinical placements or other practical learning experiences that allow direct contact with people with intellectual disability.
- People with intellectual disability and their support networks should be actively involved in the design, development and delivery of intellectual disability-related education and training.
- Intellectual disability training should be compulsory for all health professionals who work in public hospitals, public outpatient services and public emergency services.
- Peak health professional bodies, specialist medical colleges and government-funded health services should provide and promote intellectual disability training and continued professional development (CPD) opportunities among their members and/or staff.
- Where specialty training is available for a health profession, intellectual disability should be included in the core curriculum of that specialty training program.
- More high-quality training about intellectual disability should be made available to the health workforce. This should include continued professional development opportunities and pathways for advanced or specialty training for health professionals who wish to specialise in the care of people with intellectual disability.
- Health professionals should be given the support they need to put their training into practice. This includes giving health professionals the time and resources they need, such as fair payment for longer consultations and access to specialised teams to support their understanding and practice.
The Centre is working to make these recommendations happen.
