Improving healthcare access for older adults with intellectual disability: What are the needs?

This qualitative study was carried out in Spain with the aim of identifying the changes that the health system should make to improve healthcare access for older adults with intellectual disability. Three hundred and sixty-nine family members and professionals expressed their opinion on how healthcare access could be improved. Participants responded to two open-ended questions included in a general survey about the health status of older individuals with intellectual disability. Most informants were women and professionals who had known the person with intellectual disability for more than 12 months. A system of categories, which showed good inter-rater agreement, was developed to analyse participants' written responses. Both family members and professionals emphasized the need to improve disability training for healthcare practitioners and highlighted the urgent need for flexibility in the structure of a healthcare system that currently overlooks the specific needs of this vulnerable population.