People with intellectual disability can have significant healthcare needs and often multiple health conditions.
A person with intellectual disability is at high risk of poor health, chronic disease and unmanaged ill mental health.
By focusing on quality improvement activities in your practice you will be able to ensure your clinicians and practice staff are able supported and trained to offer patient-centred, comprehensive care to people with an intellectual disability.
Please feel free to download and save our templates, video’s and resources to your own clinical software and regularly review this page for any updates.
Download resource Intellectual Disability QI Change Ideas (PDF 102KB)
Project reports
Frameworks – Inclusion is limitless for GP clinics, Mental Health Services and Telehealth
GP Clinic Framework and Tools
Framework: Continuous quality improvement framework towards inclusive and equitable health care (pdf 1MB)
GP Clinics – Audit process outline (docx 146 KB)
GP Clinics – Action Register (docx 218 KB)
GP clinic Framework Implementation – Reporting template (docx 4 MB)
For additional resources, see below heading ‘Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) – Templates for Quality Improvement’
Mental Health Service Framework and Tools
Framework : Supporting Inclusive Practice Framework for Youth / Adult Mental Health Services (pdf 9MB)
Mental Health Service – Audit process outline (docx 152 KB)
Mental Health Service – Action register (docx 227KB)
Mental Health Service – Reporting Template (docx 4 MB)
Telehealth Peer Support Worker Framework
Plan Do Study Act (PDSA)- Templates for Quality Improvement
Polar Walkthroughs (data cleansing in clinical software)
Polar Walkthrough – Find Uncoded diagnoses (Disability) 163KB
Polar Walkthrough – Identifying patients that are eligible for a Health Assessment MBS item (230KB)
Patient Profile Resources
About Me – Patient Profile (docx 106KB) About Me – Patient profile (pdf 89KB)
Emergency Information about me – Patient Profile (docx 122KB) Emergency Information About me – Patient profile (pdf 94 KB)
Dental Information About Me – Patient Profile (docx 9 MB) Dental Information About me – Patient Profile (pdf 540 KB)
Annual Health Assessment (CHAP)
Comprehensive Health Assessment Program (CHAP) – Annual Health Assessment for People with Intellectual Disability.
Tool – Access the Young Person CHAP (12-18 years) online for free from the Department of Health and Aged Care website here: health.gov.au/chap-yp
Using the Free CHAP Webinar (pdf 6MB)
GP Clinic CHAP letter with easy read (docx 11MB)
Video – Overarching: CHAP for people with intellectual disability
Video – How to complete Part 1 of the CHAP tool: CHAP for people with intellectual disability
Video – A GP lens on the CHAP tool
Video – Expert with lived experience talks about the CHAP tool
Information sheet – CHAP (3 pages) (pdf 361KB)
Checklist – CHAP (1 page) (pdf 79KB)
Easy read information – CHAP (7 pages) (pdf 803KB)
Further information available via annual health assessments for people with intellectual disability, and the Department of Health and Aged Care project to improve annual health assessments for people with intellectual disability.
Mental health resources (easy read – inclusive of youth mental illness)
The following resources were brought together by the Youth Peer Support Worker and team at headspace Warrnambool (Brophy Family and Youth Services) as part of a trial activity funded by the Supporting People with an Intellectual Disability to Access Health (SPIDAH) project. See the ‘Framework: Supporting Inclusive Practice Framework for Youth / Adult Mental Health Services’ available under the drop-down heading “Frameworks – Inclusion is limitless for GP clinics, Mental Health Services and Telehealth” on this Practice Connect webpage.
What is Mental Health – Easy Read (pdf 1 MB))
7 tips for a healthy headspace – Easy Read (pdf 1 MB))
Mental Health Wordlist – Easy Read (pdf 3 MB))
Your Healthcare Rights – Easy Read (pdf 750 KB))
Sharing your information and understanding Consent – Easy Read (pdf 434 KB))
Drug and Harm Reduction Fact Sheet – Easy Read (pdf 5 MB))
What are Rights – Easy Read (inclusive of violence, abuse and rights) (pdf 18 MB)
About headspace (Warrnambool) – Easy Read (pdf 2 MB)
Diet and nutrition resources, consumer and supporter-facing
Calcium – Calcium rich foods for a healthy diet (2MB)
Fruit – Everyday is good day to have fruit (daily intake) (3MB)
Grains – What does a serve of grains look like (3MB)
Meats and alternatives – Size and serves per day (2MB)
Vegetables – Size and serves per day (3MB)
Glycaemic Index (GI) – Tips for eating food in low GI (7MB)
Healthy fats – Healthy fats for good health (3MB)
Healthy homemade Friday night swaps (4MB)
Water – The human body needs water (2MB)
Iron – Foods that have iron for a good diet (2MB)
Lower salt swaps (5MB)
Lower sugar swaps (6MB)
Perfect your portion – How much you should eat (5MB)
Webinar: The importance that food and nutrition plays in health and wellbeing
Resources developed with a focus on healthy diet, homemade alternatives and portion sizes based off the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGTHE) Further information visit Victoria University CHEW program.
Telehealth resources
The following resources were brought together by the Peer Support Worker at Grampians Community Health as part of a trial activity funded by the Supporting People with an Intellectual Disability to Access Health (SPIDAH) project. See the ‘Framework – Telehealth Peer Support Worker’ available under the drop-down heading “Frameworks – Inclusion is limitless for GP clinics, Mental Health Services and Telehealth” on this PraticeConnect webpage.
Video resources:
Video walkthrough – How to do telehealth using Zoom
Video walkthrough – How to do telehealth using Microsoft Teams
Written information resources:
Easy read – About telehealth (pdf 378 KB))
How to telehealth – Microsoft Teams (Uninstalled) (pdf 2 MB))
How to telehealth – Microsoft Teams (Installed) (pdf 75KB))
How to telehealth – HealthDirect (pdf 124KB))
How to telehealth – Zoom (Uninstalled) (pdf 161 KB))
How to telehealth – Zoom (Installed) (pdf 125 KB))
Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights (second edition) – All translations | Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
Podcast episodes – Health and disability
Community is Our Middle Name – Podcast
Episode Fifty: Disability, Peer Support & Telehealth
Episode Sixty: What Is Disability Pride?
Our Community Is Able – Podcast
Our Community Is Able – Trailer
VALID – Episode 1
General Practitioners Management Plan – Episode 2
Exercise Physiologist – Episode 3
Nutrition – Episode 4
Occupational Therapist – Episode 5
CHAP Tool – Episode 6
NDIS & Local Area Coordinator – Episode 7
Inclusive Practices & Reasonable Adjustments – Episode 8 (Final)
Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) descriptor document and resources
MBS items – People with intellectual disability (PDF 495KB)
RACGP Article New tool to help GPs with complex MBS billing
RACGP training module eLearning Program – MBS services available for patients with disability
RACGP Eligible Disability MBS Flow Chart of Services (PDF)
RACGP Article The Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) calls for Medicare public education campaign
Chronic Health Care plan editable templates (easy read) and other Allied health resources
These documents are editable templates for health professionals to develop chronic health care plans using easy read formatting. These are specific for allied health professions and will assist to tailor a patient’s health plan to meet their individual needs.
Dentist health plan (Easy read template) (docx 2MB)
Diabetes Nurse health plan (Easy read template) (docx 2MB)
Dietitian health plan (Easy read template) (docx 2MB)
Podiatrist health plan (Easy read template) (docx 2MB)
Physiotherapist health plan (Easy read template) (docx 2MB)
Occupational therapist health plan (Easy read template) (docx 2MB)
Speech Pathologist health plan (Easy read template) (docx 2MB)
Exercise Physiologist health plan (Easy read template) (docx 2MB)
Tracking signs, symptoms and side effect templates
Pharmacy Medications Template (Example antipsychotic medication) (docx 1 MB)
Signs and Symptoms Tracker (docx 1 MB) Signs and Symptoms Tracker (pdf 630 KB)
Reception staff and adding patient alerts to files
GP resources for supporting parents
GP flowchart for tips to support parents with intellectual disability during pregnancy and for parenting (docx 6 MB)
Charter Of Rights For Parents And Carers With Disabilities Involved With Child Protection In Victoria | Child Protection Manual | CP Manual Victoria
Improving the rights of parents with intellectual disability – Emerging Minds
Advocacy group for parents with intellectual disability: Powerful Positive Parents (positivepowerfulparents.com.au)
GoShare – Patient-facing resources available
A range of patient-facing and supporter-facing resources have been added to GoShare. Speak to your WVPHN Practice Facilitator for more information about GoShare.
GoShare Healthcare (realtimehealth.com)
Resources, Training and Research for Health Professionals
The following non-exhaustive list of external resources aims to support health professionals when working with people with an intellectual disability.
Resources / Information:
Fact Sheet: Intellectual disability – Governance (apo.org.au)
Assessment in Primary Care | Intellectual Disability and Health
Practice Alerts | NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (ndiscommission.gov.au) (inclusive of Practice Alert for Comprehensive Health Assessments)
NDIS – Specialist clinical mental health services practice guidelines.docx
Healthy Discussions project – Office of the Public Advocate
Developmental Disability What’s New (2021) – Therapeutic Guidelines (tg.org.au)
Prescribing psychotropic medication to people with an intellectual disability
Mental health training standards 2023-25 – General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration
Intellectual disability and youth mental health – Orygen, Revolution in Mind
Child health services guidelines for community health program
Training:
Playlist of high-quality education resources: Inclusive Practice and Reasonable Adjustments (Increase your knowledge on ID) – YouTube
RACGP launches: Post fellowship recognition in Developmental Disability Health: https://www.racgp.org.au/the-racgp/faculties/specific-interests/recognition-of-extended-skills/developmental-disability
eLearning (self-paced): Just Include Me – Inclusive Health Care eLearning – Council for Intellectual Disability (cid.org.au)
Research articles:
Primary health care for adults with intellectual disability (pdf 154 KB)
Access to general practice for people with intellectual disability in Australia: asystematic scoping review | MC Primary Care | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)
Twelve Tips forInclusive Practice in Healthcare Settings – PMC (nih.gov)
Sex and intellectual disability: Dealing with sexual health issues(researchgate.net)
Codesign with people living with cognitive or sensory impairments: a case for method stories and uniqueness (pdf 618 KB)
Programs:
Services:
Centre for Developmental Disability Health – Better Health Better Lives (monashhealth.org) Victorian Dual Disability Service – St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne (svhm.org.au)
HealthPathways
HealthPathways, for clinicians, log in details required
How to use HealthPathways to care for your patients with an intellectual disability
For more information
View the Western Victoria PHN Learn, SPIDAH Education playlist on Inclusive Practice and Reasonable Adjustments (Increase your knowledge on ID) This playlist features subject matter expert presentations on a wide range of health topics in supporting people with an intellectual disability – with key learnings also applicable to many other population groups.
The SPIDAH Project further information
For any feedback on resources or documents available on this page, please contact spidah@westvicphn.com.au