Improving health workforce capacity

Health professionals such as doctors, dentists, nurses, and psychologists often lack the knowledge and skills to meet the health care needs of people with intellectual disability.

Health professionals do not receive much education or training about how to work with people with intellectual disability and meet their health needs. This can make it hard for people with intellectual disability to get good healthcare and find health services that are right for them.

Project aims

This project aims to improve the ability of the medical, nursing, allied health, and dentistry workforce to meet the healthcare needs of people with intellectual disability. We will make recommendations about what training is needed for health professionals based on what people with intellectual disability and others tell us, and suggest training and resources that can be used in the short term.

We will create

A position statement on what training is needed. A position statement says what a group thinks about a topic.
A report that shows what training and resources are available for different types of health professionals (such as dentists, nurses and doctors), highlights where there are gaps, and make suggestions for what training needs to be developed.

This project will also support the promotion of resources that support the Intellectual Disability Health Capability Framework. Find out more

Project team

This project is being led by Claire Eagleson. Team members include Kitty-Rose Foley, Lucy Reynhout, Patsie Frawley, Bryana Fochesato, Mary-Ann O’Donovan and Janelle Weise.