Self-reported needs among older persons with intellectual disabilities in an Irish community-based service.
Older adults with ID still want help with money and reading, and teaching these skills may slow later daily-living declines.
01Research in Context
What this study did
McCausland et al. (2010) asked 75 older Irish adults with intellectual disability what everyday skills they still wanted help with.
Staff read the questions aloud and wrote down the answers. The survey listed 23 life areas like money, cooking, and health.
What they found
The top gaps were basic reading, writing, and handling money. Most people said no one was teaching them these skills now.
Needs were high even for adults who had used services for decades.
How this fits with other research
Bauman et al. (1996) saw daily-living skills drop after age 60, so the education gaps Darragh found may speed up that decline.
Lin et al. (2013) also used a survey and showed half of older adults with ID stay fully independent in self-care. The two studies do not clash: one counts missing skills, the other counts skills still present.
Amore et al. (2011) looked at 989 Dutch adults and found poor mobility, not ID level, predicts ADL trouble. Together the papers say: teach money and reading, but also keep people moving.
Why it matters
If your client is over 50 with ID, ask what they want to learn next. Slip a money lesson or reading game into the day. Small daily teaching blocks can shrink the gap before ADL declines start.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Current research indicates that older persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) are a growing population with very specific needs. There are few existing studies that identify and characterise these needs. This study aimed to assess the health and social care needs of a group of older persons with ID in a community-based service in Ireland. The Camberwell Assessment of Need for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities-Short form (CANDID-S) was used to identify the health and social needs of 75 older persons with ID in a community-based service who were over the age of 50. The mean age of the sample was 57.6 years (SD=5.4, range 50-72) and 37.3% had mild ID, 46.7% had moderate ID and 16% had severe or profound ID. The most common 'unmet needs' reported were basic education and money budgeting (the ability to independently manage one's own finances). The top-rated 'met needs' were food and daytime activities. Participants with severe or profound ID reported significantly more 'unmet needs' than those with mild or moderate ID. The current study identified education and financial skills as unmet needs for older persons with ID, implying that continuing lifelong learning programmes might be a valuable and appropriate addition to service provision and retirement options. Further research should be carried out to inform a comprehensive evidence base of the health and social care needs of this group.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2010 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2009.10.005