QCIDD has been funded by the Australian Government (via an NH&MRC grant) to undertake The Ask Project. This five year project aims to improve the health of young people with intellectual disability (ID) by implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of a combined education and health intervention package.

Reducing Barriers And Promoting Access To Health Care For Young People With Intellectual Disability

The health of young people with ID is often substandard. High levels of unrecognised (and hence untreated) disease coupled with inadequate health screening and health promotion are commonly cited as contributing to the poor health outcomes of this group relative to the general population. Research shows that barriers to good health care for people with ID include communication difficulties, impaired recall of important health information, negative social attitudes, and inadequate training in disability for health service providers.

The Ask Project intervention package aims to minimise these barriers by using evidence-based strategies for:

• Performing a comprehensive health review on the young person
• Developing a strong relationship with the young person’s general practitioner
• Teaching the young person real-life communication and practical self-advocacy skills in relation to their health
• Educating parents, teachers, and general practitioners about the specific health problems and related support needs of young people with ID (e.g., how to manage the transition from paediatric to adult health services)
• Improving health information systems (e.g., methods for the young person to organise their medical records)

A Combined Education and Health Intervention Package

In particular, The Ask Project intervention package includes:

• An educational component—the Ask (Advocacy Skills Kit) Health Diary used by the young person to collect and store personal health information and to learn self-advocacy skills. This component of the intervention will be school-based and taught as part of the young person’s regular education program. A curriculum support guide offering ideas for teaching the material in the Ask Diary will be provided to the young person’s teachers
• A health component—a comprehensive health review (the CHAP) performed on the young person by their general practitioner.

The Ask Project aims to determine:

1. If young people with ID using this package receive better health care (e.g., health screening) and improved health outcomes
2. If using the package improves health advocacy by young people with ID and their parents, and
3. If the package is acceptable to young people with ID and their families

Materials being used in the project have been adapted from those already tested and found to be successful for adults with ID. In addition, a trial of the intervention package was conducted in 2004 at Darling Point Special Education School in order to refine the teaching materials and ensure age-appropriateness of the curriculum.

Project Logistics

We have recruited over 700 young people with ID aged between 13 and 18 years (their parents, teachers, and GPs). The educational component of the intervention package was introduced into 39 Special Education Schools and Special Education Units in Southern Queensland during the 2007 school year. The project has the support of Education Queensland and has ethical approval from The University of Queensland.

Further Information

To find out more about The Ask Project please contact:

• Lyn McPherson
  Tel: +61 7 3163 8267
  Email: l.mcpherson@uq.edu.au