Addressing Health and Healthcare Issues: Older Adults with ID

This report addresses the multifaceted health and healthcare challenges encountered by older adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). It explores the difficulties in communication, the potential for delayed diagnoses, and the impact of cognitive and behavioral changes. The report highlights the importance of recognizing the unique needs of this population, including issues related to adaptive functioning, communication, and independent living. It references scholarly articles to support the discussion and emphasizes the need for healthcare providers to be sensitive to the specific health issues of older adults with ID, such as sleep problems and behavioral changes. The report also emphasizes the need for health practitioners to correctly diagnose and treat older people with ID by considering the health status and challenges to receiving health care.

Running head: ISSUES FACED BY OLDER ADULT WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
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ISSUES FACED BY OLDER ADULT WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

ISSUES FACED BY OLDER ADULT WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
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Intellectual disability (ID) is a problem related to mental retardation that concerns two
areas. One is adaptive functioning that denotes daily life activities such as
communication and independent living, and another is intellectual functioning that
describes problem-solving, learning abilities, and judgment skills. Older people with ID
face a disproportionate burden of a health condition depending upon their lifestyle. Older
people often obtain delayed health care. Since older people face challenges in mobility, a
general slowing down, and continence alterations, toileting, cognition, and behavioral
characteristics along with this sleeping pattern, they are frequently misdiagnosed. The
clinicians and other health professionals consider these problems, especially the sleeping
pattern and decreased moving and falling as a consequence of physiological age. The
disturbed sleep problems, strange behavior, aggression, confusion are commonly
assumed as the symptoms of older age or dementia (Bower, Webber & Bigby, 2014). The
health care provider described an incident to address this issue. They defined that an
older resident woke up at night and then aggressive towards his/her family and don't want
to go toilet. The family members, along with medical staff, regarded the issue as
dementia at the initial stage. Later, after health examination, the health practitioner
diagnosed that he had a painful hernia that was hampering his sleep. This delayed
diagnosis can create a critical condition than before and affects the overall health
condition of the patient. Hence, the health status is inferior to the patient with ID. The
older people with ID are unable to communicate effectively (Clearly & Doody, 2017).
They often cannot express their health-related problems, and also they have less insight
into their health. The aggressive nature, changes in cognitive behaviors often lead to the
residents unmindful of them. Therefore, the physicians, along with family members,

CULTURALLY SENSITIVE COMMUNICATION
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concentrate less on those people, thus leading to the delayed response of their symptoms
and poor health outcomes.

CULTURALLY SENSITIVE COMMUNICATION
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References
Bowers, B., Webber, R., & Bigby, C. (2014). Health issues of older people with intellectual
disability in group homes†. Journal of intellectual & developmental disability, 39(3),
261–269.
Cleary, J., & Doody, O. (2017). Nurses' experience of caring for people with intellectual
disability and dementia. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 26(5-6), 620-631.